The next item is a statement by Gene Freeman on St John's paediatrics services update, and the cabinet secretary will take questions as usual following my friend. I would encourage all members who wish to ask a question to press their request to speak button as soon as possible. I call on the cabinet secretary, Gene Freeman. I am grateful for the opportunity to update members on progress that is made on the provision of paediatric services at St John's hospital in Livingston. I want to begin by recognising the excellence and dedication of the staff who work there to care for and serve patients and families in the surrounding communities, the support that the service has from local parents and by emphasising my commitment to the hospital and its paediatric services. When I came to Parliament to update members last September, I gave a commitment that I would return in January to provide a further update. I informed members that I had asked the director general for health and social care and the chief medical officer for Scotland to review progress by the end of January this year. I also asked the chief nursing officer for Scotland to liaise with NHS Lothian and provide advice and support on the training and development of advanced nurse practitioners. I would like to record my gratitude to them for their support and their professional input. I will not rehearse again, Presiding Officer, the detail of why the interim service model has been implemented beyond one important point—that the decision was taken by NHS Lothian in the best interests of children and their families in the circumstances of that time. Within this interim model, the majority of children's services have been maintained at St John's. The children's ward is open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, providing a short stay paediatric assessment service, with the paediatric ward remaining open for day surgery activity, as well as planned day case procedures and programmed investigations. The paediatric outpatient services, neonatal services and community child health services have all been unaffected. The assessment unit has seen around 3,560 children since July 2017, and there have been over 2,555 planned investigation unit attendancies. The emergency department continues to see more than 11,000 attendancies each year, and outpatient clinics have seen more than 4,000 new and reviewed patients. The board has evolved the interim model since it was first implemented, and that has seen a drop in the number of children who have been transferred but not admitted to the Royal hospital for sick children in Edinburgh. When the interim model was introduced in July 2017, the average figure was 12 children a month. Since March 2018, the average has been four, reflecting more confident triaging of patients. Additionally, although the original plan was for children to be redirected to the Royal hospital for sick children at weekends, the board has maintained a daytime weekend rotor on all but three weekends from July 2017 to date. A wide range of children's services continue to be available at St John's and the vast majority of children who require services locally receive them at St John's. However, I am acutely aware of how important the reinstatement of the full inpatient service is to the local community. I met a group of parents and misconstants on 29 November last year, where I heard first hand about their personal experiences at St John's and of the excellent care that their children received in the inpatient unit. I heard of the dedication of staff to the service and of their willingness to go above and beyond to provide care for the local population. I am grateful to all parents who attended for their openness and I understand the anxiety and share the concern felt by members and the local community to have the service fully reinstated. The Royal College follow-up report to the board in 2017 reiterated that its preferred option remained a 24-hour model, reflecting the population projections for West Lothian. In turn, the board has confirmed its absolute commitment to the reinstatement of the 24-7 model through discussions with Paul Gray, Dr Calderwood and Professor McQueen. The board has continued to work to develop and deliver that 24-7 service but one that is safe and sustainable. That requires a staffing rotor that ensures resilience to sick leave and any other short notice reductions in staff availability. It requires that the majority of shifts be filled by permanent staff so that rotas can be planned for six-month periods, and it requires a model that equates to having two tiers of trained staff to look after the children of West Lothian overnight that is consultant pediatricians supported by a second full rotor of other medical and nursing staff. The NHS Lothian paediatric programme board met on 9 January, when two interim options to enhance paediatric service provision were considered. The options were to reopen the inpatient ward for four nights a week, Monday to Friday, or to extend the opening hours of the short stay unit to 10 o'clock or midnight, seven nights a week. The programme board undertook assessments of both options in the context of the full 24-7 service reopening in October this year, meaning that those interim options would be required for no more than six to seven months. What emerged from the assessments was a clear preference for the reopening of the 24-hour inpatient service Monday to Thursday from 18 March. On the remaining three days, Friday to Sunday, the assessment unit will continue to be open from 8 am to 8 pm. That is achievable because of improved medical and nursing staff numbers. From a nursing position, the ward will be fully staffed overnight for four nights a week, Monday to Thursday, with a paediatric nurse in the emergency department for the remaining three nights Friday to Sunday, as is the current arrangement. NHS Lothian currently has three advanced paediatric nurse practitioners in post. Two are already contributing to the out-of-hours rotor, and one is expected to contribute to the rotor from March. That is an improvement on the position in September when only one advanced paediatric nurse practitioner was supporting the rotor. Of the three additional APNPs recruited last year, two will be ready to contribute to the rotor from October, and another will be available in 2020. NHS Lothian expects that the improved staffing position will support their commitment to reopening the inpatient unit fully in October 2019. The programme board felt that the reopening of the unit four nights a week would significantly enhance the service delivered at St John's through a reduction in transfers to the Royal hospital for sick children. Over the past 18 months, an average of 1.6 children a day have been transferred from St John's to the RHSC. The board would expect most of those children to be admitted to the St John's unit over the four nights that are open. There are, in addition, an average of four children who are transferred to the RHSC but not admitted, and the board expects that most of those children would stay at St John's. The board will monitor the arrangements and keep activity under review. It has also felt that the four-night interim arrangement would improve further recruitment efforts as it demonstrates the board's commitment to fully reinstate the 24-7 inpatient service from October. The board will go back out to recruitment for the two consultant posts that were not filled after their efforts in the autumn of last year. Advanced nurse practitioner posts will also continue to be advertised. NHS Lothian remains committed to where possible over recruit to both areas in order to build resilience and to mitigate the risks associated with the impact of sickness or any other absences or long-term leave. I know that members and the local community are anxious to know when the full 24-7 service will be reinstated, and I understand that. I believe that the board's decision to reopen the paediatric ward for 24 hours for nights Monday to Thursday is welcome, and I hope that it provides assurance to members and families that the full reinstatement of the inpatient service is on track to happen in October. The board's chief executive has sought to assure me that reinstatement of the full 24-7 paediatric service has the full commitment of the board and will continue to receive the highest level of priority. As I said in September, that too is and remains my commitment. We will continue to act, as we have done, to provide assistance and support to the board, monitor progress and work towards that delivery of 24-7 paediatric inpatient services at St John's from October this year. That remains my commitment and I hope that members see the progress to date as further assurance of that. Thank you, cabinet secretary. I encourage all members who wish to ask a question to press their request to speak buttons and a Colin Wiles Briggs. I thank the cabinet secretary for advanced sight of her statement today. The downgrading that we have been discussing specifically for families in Livingston is key, because we have now seen on three separate occasions in 2012, 2015 and 2017 services removed, and local families across West Lothian will rightly be cynical about their latest SMP promises. The main staffing concerns that are outlined in your statement point towards the summer months, which are traditionally very difficult to staff. Can I ask whether those steps on recruitment will be sustainable, because that will only be clear from your statement in the summer of 2020? How will the cabinet secretary guarantee that those proposals are sustainable going forward? Thank you to Mr Briggs for his response and for that question. Can I make it absolutely clear that we are not talking about promises here, we are talking about an absolute commitment, and since September I have done exactly what I said I would do, and that is to look to improve the existing service on the road towards full 24-7 opening. We are on track and I have returned to this chamber to report on that. I am disappointed that it is not particularly welcomed from those benches over here. How will I guarantee that it is sustainable and that it remains on track? I will do that with the professional judgment and the guidance of the Royal College and of that Pediatric Program Board, who themselves are committed to ensuring that there is a sustainable service. It would have been all too easy to come here with quick fixes in September, but quick fixes were not sustainable. There is no point in making promises to the parents that I met or to any other parents in West Lothian that I am not convinced that I can keep. I have kept them so far and I intend to keep them right through until October and beyond. Monica Lennon I also thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. Anything that increases provision at St John's providing it is safe is absolutely welcome. It does still fall short of the 24-hour consultant-led pediatric care that the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health is needed. We know that more than 1,000 children have been transferred to Edinburgh since the out-of-hours closure in 2017, with all the extra stress and expense that that brings to our families. Does the cabinet secretary and the health board have any estimates of how many more children will have to be transferred between now and October? Although it is absolutely welcome that the cabinet secretary's commitment that the reinstatement of the 24-7 service is of her highest priority, she will accept that families have been let down by assurances before. Can I ask what contingency plans are in place at the 24-7 care, which is so badly needed, is not in place come October? I am grateful to Ms Lennon for her comments and for her welcome of the progress that we have made. I agree with her. We are not yet at the full 24-7 provision and I completely understand that that is not only what is required, but what parents have told me very clearly is what they want and rightly so. It is difficult to estimate exactly what difference that four-day 24-hour opening will make, because, as I am sure you will appreciate, cases come in and you cannot and they are not all the same. The board's expectation is that there will be a significant reduction over those four days in the number—in fact, no children unless they are very sick children—who would, in the full course of it, being open 24-7 would, in those circumstances, always be transferred to the hospital for sick children in Edinburgh. It estimates that very few cases are being admitted in that period who require the short stay, which is what the full pediatric service offered prior to the reduction that we have seen, that none of those children would need to be transferred.  The previous model was, by and large, children who require 24-hours admission and, obviously, for those four nights that would be open to them from March. On the point about what is the contingency plan, I intend, with the support of the director general and chief executive of NHS Scotland and our chief medical officer and chief nursing officer, to keep on track with the next step of progress, both when the unit moves to greater opening from 18 March and then the further steps in terms of recruitment and advanced pediatric nurse practitioner engagement all the way through to ensure, month by month, that we are making the progress that we need towards October. If it looks to me at any point that that is not likely to happen, and at this stage, remember that we have the pediatric boards assurance that they can make the October date, and we have the royal colleges support for the option appraisal and the work that they are doing, but if at any stage advice comes to me that suggests that that may not be possible, then you have my assurance that I would act quickly to try and see if there are ways that we can get it back on track and you have my assurance, of course, that I would keep his chamber advised of that. The cabinet secretary, I know, appreciates the extra travel, the stress and the expense that has been caused to families who have been required to travel to the sick children. I am pleased that we are seeing some progress, but I am sure that none of us are satisfied as yet, including the cabinet secretary herself. I would like to know if the hard-learned lessons of St John's will help to inform the legislation that is currently going through Parliament with regards to health care in Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary consider that over recruitment should become the norm so that we are never in a position like this again? I am grateful to Ms Johnson for her comments. Of course, the experience that St John's, as elsewhere in our health service, all goes to inform the propositions that we have put in terms of the draft legislation before Parliament, before the committee and the amendments that we have brought in our position on those other amendments. Of course, St John's is part of that mix. In terms of over recruitment, over recruitment works where a board understands and can demonstrate that, if they are over recruited in one area, they can nonetheless make good use of those skills and expertise elsewhere and that they have a sustainable model that takes account not only of planned events such as holidays but also unplanned events such as sickness and long-term leave. Over recruitment is not particularly new in the St John's case. It is used elsewhere in our health service. In terms of our overall discussions with chief executives of health boards, directors of nursing, medical directors and others, it remains a feature of those discussions to ensure that, where it is appropriate, it is the approach that a board adopts. I welcome today's statement and assure the cabinet secretary of the full support of those benches in seeing that service re-established to 247 coverage. The cabinet secretary referenced the fact that there has been a drop-off in the number of cases referred to the sick kids, something like 12 to 4 per week. Does she share my anxiety that it may be symptomatic of an understanding that the service does not exist in St John's to sustain children in this way, so people are going straight to the sick kids and as such is not a reflection of demand on the service. Secondly, if re-establishing the service is a 247 provision hinges on the appointment of trained APNs or two or three trained APNs, given that the margins are so tight, will that be impacted by staff sickness and absence? In that event, are there banks or locums that can be drawn down upon to relieve the pressure? I am grateful to Mr Cole-Hamilton for his question. I have no evidence that the drop-off in the transfer from St John's to Edinburgh is a result of anyone going straight to St John's, but it is the result of, as I said, a more confident triaging of patients at St John's as people understand better what they are there to do in terms of the particular services that they can offer within the restricted hours that it is currently operating in. That, of course, will translate itself now into that longer operational period for the children's ward at St John's. In terms of tight margins, that is actually the point about why we had to do the work to get to this point in order to be able to open 24 hours over those four nights, but no longer at this point. That is precisely to ensure that what we have is a sustainable model, and a sustainable model is one that is built on taking account not only of rotas and planned leave and planned holidays but, as far as it is possible to do this, based on the evidence that you have overall in terms of how your staff numbers work out, unexpected periods of—inevitably unexpected periods of sickness and periods where sick leave is lengthy. At the moment, what the board with our support has done and the paediatric board is in line with how the Royal College wanted us to progress towards, as Ms Lennon said quite rightly, their support for our 24-7 model. All of that is in line with that progression to ensure that we have that sustainable model. When we open for those four nights in the week, we do not have to close it because somebody goes off sick. That is partly how the model is being built. It is also what sits behind the proposition that the board has been delivering on as we described it over recruit. Angela Constance, to be followed by Gordon Lindhurst. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As the constituency MSP, I can indeed say that this is a very positive stride forward. It is not the final destination but good progress nonetheless that will be welcomed by West Lothian parents of school-aged children, including those in this chamber and, indeed, in the public gallery. However, what parents will want to know, particularly those that Ms Freeman has met and who have led a very positive campaign, and what they will want to know in detail is how the cabinet secretary and her team will continue to ensure that NHS Lothian do not rest, do not black slide and do not take their foot off the gas until our much-loved first class children's ward returns to a 24-7 service, given that it is not just the preferred option of the wider West Lothian community but also, crucially, the Royal College of Pediatricians and Maternal Health. I am grateful to Ms Constance for her support and for her comments, and I take this opportunity personally to welcome any parents from West Lothian who may be in the gallery and who I may have already met. As I have already said, the questions that Ms Constance raises are, of course, very pertinent ones, because that is in what everyone's minds and entirely understandably so. As I have already said, we will continue to act, as we have done, to provide assistance and support to the board, to monitor progress very closely and work towards that delivery of 24-7 paediatric inpatient services at St John's from October this week. The involvement that we have had and will continue to have with the board and the chair of the paediatric programme board, and with our director general for health and social care, and with the chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer since September last year, will continue. It has proved to be very helpful and it will continue right through. I have asked Dr Calderwood and Professor McQueen to maintain that involvement, to keep me regularly briefed on progress, to alert me. If at any point it looks like we may be going off track, so that I can be personally assured that we are putting in place all the steps that we know now need to be put in place in order to return from October this year to that full inpatient service at St John's. Gordon Lindhurst will be followed by Gordon MacDonald. Is the cabinet secretary able to tell us what effect partial closure has had on the ambulance service and has any assessment been made on ambulance response times and costs to the service? I am grateful to Mr Lindhurst for that question. I should say, just in response to that, that the ambulance service has been consulted on this proposed improvement and that is supportive of that. There has been, as I think we mentioned in September, additional payment made by NHS Lothian to the ambulance service to cover any additional costs that it had to meet in the period and where that continues through to October. That will continue to be met by NHS Lothian. The ambulance service, along with other referring services, will be notified well in advance of that 18 March date so that it can ensure that its staff are briefed and know where they should be taking patients, as parents and staff at St John's will themselves be briefed well in advance of that date. On ambulance response times, from the data that I have seen overall of ambulance response times, I have not identified any dip in response times that may be attributed to St John's. I am perfectly happy if it would be helpful to Mr Lindhurst to look further into that specific area of data and advise him of my conclusions from that in due course. Gordon MacDonald, to be followed by Kezia Dugdale. I welcome the commitment that the full reinstatement of the 24-7 paediatric service from October is receiving the highest level of priority. However, will the cabinet secretary detail how she will scrutinise and support the work of the paediatric programme board? I am grateful to Mr MacDonald for that. I understand from members their concern to make sure that, while progress has been made, nobody takes their foot off the pedal. In addition to my consciousness of members' concern, I am very conscious that parents of West Lothian will be scrutinising to make sure that we deliver on the final part of the commitment that I have made. As I said, I have asked Professor McQueen, Dr Calderwood and the DG for health and social care, chief executive of NHS Scotland, to continue their active involvement. It has been active involvement. It has not been arm's length or distant. It is active involvement with the programme board, with NHS Lothian's chief executive. We have made sure that, at that senior level in NHS Lothian, there is proactive interest in how those matters progress. All of that will be reported regularly to me with, as I said before, the commitment that I have made, that if at any point it appears to me that it looks to be going off track, then I will take steps to intervene as far as I am able to bring it back on track, but also to ensure that members of the chamber are kept up-to-date with our progress. Thank you, Presiding Officer. This is welcome news in West Lothian and, indeed, for any family with children that have ever required hospital attention. The cabinet secretary will be aware, though, that there will be a degree of scepticism about the announcement, given that the hospital has opened and closed three times since 2012. In that context, can I ask for her assurance that there will be a 24-hour paediatric service at St John's hospital for as long as she is health secretary? The final part is still going to be off a wee bit for as long as I was a health secretary. I am grateful to you for your question and for your support. You have my assurance of that. I made that commitment in September. I fully support a 24-7 in-patient paediatric service at St John's. I understand that that is needed now, that in terms of the oncology's work, the need for that is absolutely reaffirmed by the expansion in the number of families, welcomed families who are now moving into and will continue, I hope, to move into West Lothian and benefit from that area's significant advantages and a good standard of living. Therefore, I said in September that I would work with all those individuals that I have set out. I would bring in that chief medical officer, professionalism and experience, the chief nursing officer, director general. We would work with the paediatric programme board. We would work to the oncology's commitments. We have done so in order to reach a next step towards that full 24-7 opening in October. That is my commitment. It remains that, and for as long as I am health secretary, I will continue to want and to work towards sustaining a full 24-7 paediatric in-patient service at St John's. Emma Harper is to be followed by Brian Whittle. The cabinet secretary has been very definitive in her response to Miles Briggs about sustainability of the service. Can I just again clarify whether the board has sought to provide the cabinet secretary with assurances that the current staff and model will be implemented at St John's paediatric ward, will create a sustainable solution to ensure patient safety and will avoid any future disruptions to children's services? I am grateful to Ms Harper. Ms Harper probably knows better than just about any of the rest of us in this chamber about the importance of a sustainable rotor in our health service that takes account of all the issues that I have already set out in my answer. I am sure that she agrees with me about the significant value of advanced paediatric nurse practitioners and advanced nurse practitioners as a whole across our health service. That is why we worked in September to recruit additional advanced nurse practitioners to begin to bring them into the rotor. As we said, you will know that it takes a period of time to do that. We have now reached a stage where, with their engagement and with the other consultant and medical provision engagement that we already have, the rotor is sustainable for that four-night 24-7 opening of the inpatient ward at St John's. The next step is to continue to look to recruit two more consultants to continue with the additional recruitment of advanced paediatric nurse practitioners to bring those who are currently going through that training into the rotor at the point where they are clinically safe to do so. All of that work through takes us to a point where we can say that it will be 24-7 opening of that inpatient service from October. Brian Whittle to be followed by David Torrance. I ask the cabinet secretary how she will ensure that adequate resources will be made available to St John's to make sure that this crucial service overcomes the pressure on the staff that caused the initial restrictions in the first place. In truth, my understanding is that there was not a resource issue in the terms of pound notes that led to the situation that we are now working so hard to resolve and to ensure that it is sustainable going forward. It was a staffing issue and, yes, there is obviously a connection there in terms of resources, but the resources are clearly there in NHS Lothian and will be there in 1920, depending, of course, on what this Parliament does with our current draft budget in order to deliver on those commitments. I do not come to this chamber making commitments that I do not believe that I have the resource to deliver. Depending, as I said, on what happens with our draft budget in due course, I have the resources to deliver, NHS Lothian will have the resources to deliver and, consequently, St John's will have the resources to deliver. David Torrance to be followed by Mary Fee. Does the cabinet secretary share my concern that the end of free movement of people following Brexit would be harmful to future recruitment drives for clinical staff across health boards in Scotland? I share my concern. I will give Mr Torrance and the chamber the benefit of a couple of quotes from more than me, those who work and represent people in our health service. BMA council chair said that the only thing that is certain is how disastrous leaving the EU will be for the NHS, its workforce, its patients and the health of the country. Donna Kinair from the Royal College of Nursing said that our healthcare system is fast losing its most important asset, its staff. We already know that staff are leaving our health service, who are EU nationals. We also know from memory that 78 per cent of EU nationals who are doctors in the United Kingdom, who were asked, said that they found the UK Government's assurances deeply unconvincing, and just over 35 per cent of them planned to leave. Those are serious problems and serious matters that we have to try to address in how we take forward our health service, but more importantly, how we take forward our country. Mary Fee to be followed by Colin Beattie. The cabinet secretary has said that there are plans to recruit two new consultant posts, which were unfilled at a recruitment round last year. What additional steps are the board taking to fill those posts? Does the cabinet secretary have confidence that the posts will be filled before the service opens in October, and what impact will not filling the posts have on the service? The board is going out again to advertise for those posts. The board believes—indeed, it was a point made to me by the parents that I met—that the more we can do to improve the provision of pediatric inpatient services in St John's, the more attractive that becomes in terms of people looking to apply and to being recruited. We are hopeful that the next step that I have announced will assist in that recruitment exercise, along with our absolute commitments that we have restated. The move to the four-night opening makes good on those commitments. It will encourage individuals to think seriously about coming to work in what is an excellent hospital, providing very high-quality care. The board will go back out to advertisement and seek to recruit in those posts. In anticipation that there was a post to difficulty in the autumn recruitment where the two posts were not filled, the board looked to—with the paediatric programme board and the support of the Royal College—to realign what its model might look like. That has resulted in some of the additional advanced paediatric nurse practitioner recruitment that I spoke about in my statement. We continue to look for those two consultant posts. They are important for the consultant rotor, but in terms of going to the full 24-7 model, the additional steps that I set out in my statement, including the additional advanced nurse practitioner roles above what I said in September, helps to take us towards that sustainable model. Colin Beattie The cabinet secretary has outlined some of the challenges that are being faced in recruiting staff at present. Can she outline how NHS Lothian figures today compare with staffing figures in 2007? Thank you to Mr Beattie for that. In terms of NHS Lothian, since 2007, consultant numbers have risen by 54 per cent, emergency medicine consultants have risen by 252.7 per cent, qualified nurses and midwives up by 9.6 per cent and allied health professionals up by 18.8 per cent. Overall, staff numbers in NHS Lothian have gone up in total across all of those by 14.8 per cent. We continue to seek to recruit in order to deliver the quality service that families in West Lothian and elsewhere across Scotland deserve to have. Thank you very much, and that concludes our statement on St John's paediatric services. We are going to move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion 15609 in the name of Christina McKelvey on a Connected Scotland, the Scottish Government's strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness. I invite all members who wish to contribute in this debate to press their request to speak buttons as soon as possible. Thank you very much.


Hi, I'm Sveta and I'm the product manager of the service module in Superoffice CRM. Today I'm going to show you another favorite feature of mine, which is how you can use reply templates to quickly respond to requests that have repetitive questions. In this example, I have received an email from Peter and he has received an invoice from us, but he's doubting that the figure is right and he would like to get some specifics on the invoice. Now, in order for us to solve that request, we need the invoice number and unfortunately Peter forgot to send that. So I'm looking here at the request and what I need to is to respond quickly back to Peter, asking him to give us the invoice number. So I'm going to go on actions and reply. Inside the editor here of the reply screen, I will then choose a reply template from the menu at the bottom. Clicking there gives me an overview of all reply templates, FAQs and messages that I can choose to paste in. In this case, I have a reply template called invoice number. I'll choose that and click paste at cursor position. And what you can see is that inside the message box, it has now filled out the reply template. It has merged in Peter's name and it has a small picture that tells him how he can easily find that invoice number. All I need to do now is click OK and this email is sent to Peter and he can respond back with the correct invoice number. Hopefully this is a feature that will allow you to process a lot of the repeating questions and repeating inquiries faster than having to type them manually each time. Thank you.


McPawn Mike Stevens has a message for Chief Petty Officers about his zeroing in on Excellence Initiative. Chief Petty Officers, hopefully you have read, seen or heard about my zeroing in on Excellence Initiative and the three focus areas of developing leaders, good order and discipline, and controlling what we own. Zeroing in on Excellence does not distract from or add to existing individual roles and responsibilities, rather it is the framework around which we can build sound, durable readiness in order to functionally support the CNO's sailing directions. I believe developing leaders, fostering good order and discipline, and controlling what we own, will help us build an environment where our entire organization gets stronger now and in the future. These are not single actions, they are deliberate mindsets that permeate our process and procedures. Each directly advances the CNO's tenets of Warfighting First, Operating Forward, and Be Ready. Each already falls within our assigned swim lane and can be a powerful engine of influence if it becomes a heightened part of our consciousness. If we grab zeroing in on Excellence and maintain a steady strain on the ideas that it entails, we will have a positive impact on readiness and get after some of the issues tainting our Navy, including sexual assault, suicide, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. Through your leadership and support, we will make this initiative work, support the CNO, and continue to make our Navy the world's preeminent maritime force. Thank you and I will see you in the fleet.


Whenever you're ready. Okay. In trouble, in trouble, in trouble, in trouble. Okay. Welcome back to another video. I think it's a miracle that's happening. I don't know how we are. Showers of blessing!  Which also makes me think that in 2022, whether she likes it or not, at this point, it's probably going to be Kwame and Elaine. We'll probably even change our YouTube banner and... Prove our picture. Ooh! Yeah, to Kwame and Elaine. And who would have thought that, I mean, a year ago, when the first time she showed up, I mean, on the channel, we would be where we are. And we also talked about that on the previous video. Which we ended up in German cosmopolitan, which is a pretty big deal for us. So, yeah, we're here to talk about something that's not very nice. Who are you? My name is... oh, God! Dale. My name is Kwame. I'm a filmmaker, documentary filmmaker and voice actor. And this is my wife. Yes, I'm Elaine and we live together in Accra and we try to share our experiences.  But let's dive into it. What are we doing today? So, today we're talking about a reaction to some of the comments we've received over the past year. Some of the not-so-nice comments.  How they want to see more of Elaine. Elaine, Elaine, Elaine, Elaine.  And for us, I reeled her in because yeah, I wanted to share a bit of who I am besides Kwame the filmmaker and voice over artist. And initially she wasn't comfortable, but now she's here. And she's also made me understand that it's more than just bringing my wife in or showing the other side of my life. But it's also a way to tell people that our relationship which is me being from Ghana or Africa and she being European or mixed race relationships do work or can work. So we share our experiences with you guys. Every now and then and you guys, you know, you do love it, our perspectives. We sit down and talk. And Elaine is getting more and more into the videos because last week we were in the couch, which is my usual very comfortable place. This week she suggested that we should sit on a bench and change their position. So yes, this is us with the ZZ plant. Yes, our baby. Yes. So not so nice on the dark side of YouTubeing or putting yourself out there. I'm going to go through the comments and we're going to react to it. So the first one that I received, I think it came on the first video we recorded together is you betrayed your race and now you want to bring your coloniser concubine to Ghana. Go live in Denmark or something and leave Africa to true Africans. And even the video that I recorded, come on. It was in Ghana, you know, living in a previous house. And this person thinks I'm betraying the African race by getting married to a European. Yeah. Which makes me sad. Yeah, sorry, we had a technical difficulty. So it's fixed, it's fixed. Yeah. We were into this comment, please read it again. Yeah, so this particular comment which is you betrayed your race and now you want to bring your coloniser concubine. It's just sad. It just makes me sad because I mean... Deeper. I've said it before in my previous video that we don't choose the ones we love and I think there are people who... We all learn our histories or we've all read about, you know, what happened 400 years ago, how Africans were dealt with the bad side of, you know, civilization's growth. I don't even know how to even put it. And 400 years later, with all these advancements, with how the world is changing, I mean, you can be a fanatic but not be this... I mean, this derogatory in my opinion. And there's no guarantee anywhere that if I married a black woman, my relationship would be successful or I'd be happy or... Like, I'm not tied... Sorry. I'm not tied to a race. I'm not tied to a people. I'm a person and she's a person. And I like her and she likes me and I love her and she loves me and we understand each other, our relationship is working. That's it. Like, it's two people, not one African, one European. Yes, I know it can never be erased. That's one way to look at it and I think that is what's stressed here. Yeah. But I mean, we are aware of the history. We are aware of that even nowadays it still has its impact on how the world is. Yeah. So we are... I mean, yes, we're not oblivious to that. We're not ignorant to that. And I think this is merely a reaction to how it looks.  But if you look at who we are as persons, then you would not say this. And for me, honestly, the whole argument of portraying your race... That's... Like, I cannot relate to that because race is a social construct. It's made up by men. You've also betrayed your race. Yes, but... That's what it means. I get it. Like, so we should stay in our race, in our... I mean, I want to talk to this person what it means. Like, race is such a big thing. Yeah. Why are we betraying it if we found somebody we want to spend time with, who we love, who we adore? And how does that betray all? In this case, it also means that everything that has happened in the world, to the world, around the world, in how global and village the world is now, with the clothes you're probably wearing, with the phone you probably used to type this, it shouldn't be happening.  Like, technology, advancements, people becoming, you know... Yeah. Like, racism and the concepts of race is something that's not going to go anywhere anytime soon. But come on. In 2020 or 2021, or whichever year you posted this comment, please. Yeah, and I mean, I can understand that I can... I see the sentiment where it's coming from, but you're also not a person who sees me being white as a status thing or that you look down on Black women or Ghanaian women. No. So that's also not the case. Yeah. We chose each other because we ran into each other, we got along, we're like, let's do this. Yeah. And that's what the second comment is, like, literally almost like this one, but in a different perspective. Because it says, there's a Black guy with low self-esteem who thinks it's a prize to get a white girl. Yeah, I think the only person who has low self-esteem is rather you, honestly. Yeah, I think it says more about that person than about you.  So to be able to mark up and be with a European or somebody Caucasian or white then you've made it. And it's also weird to look at partners as a prize. It feels very capitalistic. It feels like you're putting people in boxes. This is not the kind of person who's sitting here. So I'm sorry. I'm not the kind of guy who has low self-esteem. No, you're not.  I'm sorry. And also in our relationship, I feel that, of course, we acknowledge the past and how people tend to look at the differences between us. But as a partner, I feel you're my equal. And that's what matters. There's no, oh, I'm from the West. So whatever I say, no. It doesn't work like that in this relationship in the first place. So yeah, I'm not the kind of guy who is actually, you know, but I'm explaining too much. And even if you have low self-esteem, that's okay. It's something you can work on, but it's not the case here. And it's not the reason to look for a Caucasian. No. If you have low self-esteem, look for your partner who can support you in that journey. I wish you all the best. Yeah. And this one, I don't think is... Oh yeah, okay. Bad, bad comments.  So this person was asking if Elaine is bisexual because he saw her Instagram. And her Instagram accounts... Can I react? Yeah, okay. So it's about me, so let me react. So my first response was, one, if I'm bisexual, what is it to you? Why do you want to know? If I would answer this yes or no, what would that say about me? That's one thing that this person should check herself. What do you mean with that question? And how does the answer, her or himself, what does the answer mean to you? For me, if I'm bisexual, it doesn't really make any difference if I would say yes or no. Secondly, I think he or she refers to my Instagram where I put my pronouns. My pronouns are she and her because I am born as a female, but I also feel I'm a woman. So it's a... It's a pronouns thing because there's a lot... I explain the pronouns thing because this is inclusivity. Yes, it's about... There are people who identify as... So there are people who identify as he, him, she, her or... Or non-binary. Non-binary is they, them. And... not everybody fits into the gender box of he, she or wants to be. And I feel gender is something that we should discuss more often because not everybody feels at home in those two boxes. And how do you do that? When you bring the conversation home is by expressing yourself, for example by social media. So you put your pronouns in your profile to make people more... How you want to be addressed. To make people more aware. What you see is not always how a person would want to be addressed. And it opens a conversation about... No, it opens... It creates a more inclusive environment because you don't assume. You ask, you are curious. You share it together. And I am trying to also open up that conversation by putting my pronouns in my Instagram profile. So although the question is still peculiar because I don't know what it means or why the person would ask it or... It's not about being bisexual if you put your pronouns... Out there. Is this more being an inclusive minded person? I hope I explained it well but I don't drop more information in the comments. I want to add to this pronouns discussion because I'm also here to learn and I'm trying but I don't know everything so... Yeah and this particular commenter is two of them separate but he seems to notice something about our relationship and how present Elaine is in speaking her mind how it's more a mutual understanding mutual respect, mutual decision making kind of relationship. And he says that men are more rational and women are more emotional. That's why men should lead and women should follow. If they trust your leadership that's how relationships work. So he's telling us how relationships work. Same person says... Honestly speaking I think a man should be the rock of the household and he cannot always be soft. Just have balance. Talk to your boys about how you feel instead of your wife. Okay. So this person thinks that... A lot of assumptions there. This person thinks that we shouldn't even be doing this or engaging in conversations about what we feel, what we think and how we actually make decisions together. He thinks that I should come and sit here and tell people that everything is fine. I've spoken to my boys. My wife is okay. Nothing else matters because I have decided I'm the man. That's what this person thinks. And I mean everybody can choose their own way of living so there's no right or wrong. But for us it doesn't really work like that and it also relates to what we were discussing about the pronouns before and the gender roles that are attached to that men supposed to be the rock of the household only rational, not emotional. In my humble opinion I feel that we all have a masculine and a feminine side. We all have masculine energy, feminine energy. I don't think it's necessarily attached to a gender role and men need emotional support just as much as women. So men are also emotional and men also feel a lot. It's just that in society it's not as encouraged to express it. So I agree with him that you should talk to your boys about what you feel but it doesn't mean you can also... I can talk to my boys about what I feel but I'm not going to sideline my wife and talk to my boys and come and decide for my wife. No, that's just not how we relate. And I think it can also be very limiting because it's important for me to be heard and the fact that you do that that makes it also work. It's an equal partnership. But I mean, if people like to design their relationship like this they can, but then maybe it's not for us like that. And you are a rock but we are both rocks. I'm not a rock, okay? No, and I mean I think this image of man should only be strong. I'm not strong, please. I like soft life. Thank you. But also it's not fluent like that. I like soft life, okay? I'm not a rock. I'm an equal partner as far as I know. This one is not necessarily negative in my opinion but it's an annoying one regardless. People who often would... I don't know if he's jokingly asked if I can hook them up with a white person or a white partner. How did I get a white girl? And Charlie, they also want a white girl. I mean I think this goes back to the prize person who because people still think that having a Caucasian or European wife or partner is a status symbol. So this person is like, wow, she's so non-racist. Very good for you brother.  This is a bit difficult to judge only the comments. I don't know what kind of how you start your friendships with these women and how you go about it but I think this is more about personality clash and maybe motives for wanting the relationship too. It's also about the intention of growing in like I want to be with a white woman. I feel that's quite extreme and you go for who the person is as a person, not necessarily... Where they are from in the skin color and what it means to you or what you get out of it. So I don't know if it's a personal kink or status thing for you. I have no idea how to help you out with this one. And also it's observation that I'm non-racist. I think of course I try to be anti-racism and also in our relationship but it's not like I'm finished with that. It's everyday you're working towards decolonizing your mind and being anti-racist when you move through society and when you move through life. Just being an all-round nice person it doesn't have to be... That's the whole thing about the race conversation and everything just be kind to people, just see people for what they are and who they are and be kind. But I think this comment also suggests that I am done. Wow, you are never done because the world is still unequal. There's a lot of inequality unequal and we are never done. So even though I am in a relationship with a black man, a man from Ghana doesn't mean it kind of exempts me from doing anti-racism work. So that also didn't sit well with me. Okay. The comments are just like this is a heavy video for me because it's just draining to read some of these things. This one says who cares about Netherlands culture? We need them to return what they stole from Africa and pay repatriation for huge damage they caused in Africa. So we post our culture shock and somebody thinks don't put this thing here we don't care. Tell them to bring the money back. No, I mean I acknowledge. I hear, I hear. I'll tell her. So you guys should bring the money back. I mean we... No, seriously. We acknowledge the history. Once again, we acknowledge the history. We are not putting Netherlands culture out there like this is what you should adhere to but it is where I'm coming from so that's why we are sharing it. It's our own experience. Repatriation is a difficult topic. I don't think we should go into that now. We can't go into that. No, we cannot. But if you look into that specific topic it's very complex because yes, we stole a lot. I agree with you. But there were... Yeah, no, I'm not going into that. Exactly. You cannot... Just stop it. You can't. We are aware. You can't. We are aware. We are trusting any culture upon you and we are aware that things have gone really wrong in the past and repatriation is an interesting discussion so we should definitely have that discussion. It's okay. It's not up to us. It's okay. It's not up to us. Okay? I told her to bring the money. She doesn't have the money. It's okay. It's not up to us. And this one is an interesting... the most interesting out of the bunch for me because I'm going to mention the name. No, no, no, no. Okay, fine. Anonymous. And this is the only lady... that's if it's an actual lady. Accounts. Out of all the ones I've read, they're all men. This is the only one with the female name and this person's observation comes from one of our videos saying that he looks like he beats her. See how scared she got when she was laughing and he was asking what's funny? Yeah. I can... So when we joke, you know when we joke and you think the joke is funny or like... and I react like... I know it's funny, but I react like, yeah, it was funny. And then you post like, you're not sure that like, you know... and we laugh about it again. I don't know what this person... No, but... saw. I don't know either. But I can confidently say that should beat me. I can confidently say that should beat me. I can't. I can't do that. No. And I think what she sees is I try to take into account his feelings. So I respect him and I want to take into account his feelings. So whenever I make a joke, I'm checking in whether it's fine.  Like how does that even read into like abuse? Like because... Well, I don't know that. I mean, I've never been in, thank God, an abusive relationship but maybe the person recognized something. But let's just debunk this one. He doesn't beat me. We are good. It's not even to be debunked. There's nothing to be debunked. It's not a rumor. It's nothing. There's nothing to be debunked. There's nothing there. It's not he doesn't beat me. It doesn't exist. So please, whatever you are reading, you're reading too much into the video and the reactions. Watch and enjoy. Okay? Okay? Yeah. Okay, next one. And this one is also another, you know, fanatic who says if we have kids, the kids are going to be bipolar or worse. Yeah, this one I find a bit disrespectful. Yeah. Because... Not only to us but also to people who have bipolar, sorry. Because that's not how this works. That you marry or you have a partner from a different continent or culture.  No. So... And honestly, bipolar, it's also not a death sentence like your mental health. You should take care of that and you can have a precious life with others. You don't even have to explain what's going on.  Yeah, bipolarism is not a mixed race sickness. No.  Yeah. Bipolarism is a mental health issue which, I mean, hasn't been addressed or has still been addressed because the world is now becoming more aware of mental health issues. So if you know anybody who has gone through bipolarism, it's not because... No, let's just stop. So the questions should advocate themselves on bipolar and what it means. And secondly, mixed race relationships, it doesn't mean you'll get a mental health disease from coming from different ways or intercultural parents. So, advocate yourself. I think you can do it. Next comment. That's it. Oh, that's all of them? Yeah. Because that person continued with some Bible verses and stuff that I don't want to go into. Okay. Yeah. That Bible verses that we are doing something out of the Bible? Saying, neither shall thou make marriages with them, thy daughter. Yeah. Look, you know what? Yeah. You and your religious fanatism and extremism can find a different book outside your interpretation of what the Bible is and read and educate yourself. And I mean, being religious or believing in something, that's very personal. It's interesting that you apply it to us, but we have our own reasoning to that. I believe that love is love and our love is also love no matter the differences. And I think the Bible verses a bit out of context. That's my whole opinion. This whole video, I wanted to do it just to get it off my chest, but it's still super heavy for me. So, before you post a comment about a mixed-race couple and what they are going through, just pick up a book or just go on the internet that you are using to post the comments and read something before you talk. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But what makes it so heavy for you that it's so... The level of ignorance is a bit startling. Yeah. But that's also, I mean, that's also one side of doing what we're doing and putting ourselves out there. We are speaking up because we want to show that we exist. We are our... We are our authentic self. Wow. Okay. Yeah. So that people, maybe they've never spoken to an interracial couple or an intercultural couple. So then we are the first avenue, which makes it difficult because we got these replies. Yeah. Okay. I guess. So it's like the other side of the coin. I mean, I love that when people say that our videos are helpful or they got a thing or two from it. That's really great. But this is the other side of it that you are in the spotlight and it's easy to... Yeah. People react to it. And I think for me, what makes it a bit more bearable is that it's like when you're... I'm not saying our YouTube videos are art, but when you create something, once you put it out there, it's not ours anymore. That's a critique. No, but then it's from the public. It's just like how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. People look at it and they put their own stickers on it from their own interpretation, their own background. So it's not ours anymore, not truly. Okay. Once it's in the public space, it's in the hands of the viewer. And that's why you get all these super extreme comments from here to there. People touch on all kinds of things because that's what they see. How you were supposedly beating me. Where does that come from? If you know us, you would never say that. But this person that triggered something for her. So she expressed that. So it's not necessarily ours anymore. Once it's out there, once our art is out there, it's in the eye of the viewer. Anyway. So yeah. Sorry. That's it for this particular video. I don't know if we're going to do another video before the year ends, but this is... Give us some positive comments and then we'll do a video about that. The ones that touched us the most.  If you feel like sharing what you get from our videos, it really helps us also to know what we put out there next and to... It also motivates us to keep doing this. Yes, there are a lot of these people around who shoot ignorant comments, but we also see a lot of positive comments and when people come up to us and say that they appreciate us, it's really there. And we love it. So we're good. Sometimes things are difficult. It's okay. We can do hard things. It's okay. You want to wrap up? Yes. Thank you so much for watching. Please like, subscribe or follow. And comment below what you take away from our videos. And we'll catch you soon. I'm going to hug Kwame a bit more because now he's sad. We'll see you soon. Bye! Bye, dear people!


What's up everyone it's your girl Kenzie here from Layton Sports Cards Sorry about that uh We're ripping 2022 Panini Obsidian football hobby six bucks half case break number 20 pick your team We have Computers being slow here Well, Alifonzo M Niners brandon f lions chris f vikings devon m cardinals edward p cowboys and rams jacob s bangles jeff m with the bears packers texans Eagles and titans joe c with the chiefs john l broncos justin b raiders kent eye falcons luis c with the Panthers jets bucks seahawks patriots ravens dolphins and saints martin t bills matzi chargers mathew b browns mathew r colts and giants peter m washington Raymond gjags and steve c with the stealers All right, best of luck. Here we go Here we go. Hopefully we play more than just base cards here apparently Let's see a non base card Spoke too soon. We got a base rookie of jaylon thompson for the cardinals orange edge jahann dotson commanders 54 out of 75 And we've got tunnel vision of erin donald for the rams. These die cuts are cool That one is 49 of 99 First up we've got a one-of-one Equinox gear of t. Higgins going to the bangles Cinti is jacob s Nice one there That's nasty one of one For the bangles get this one in a bag for you congrats on that And we've got to 75 a brian robinson jr Unbreakable patch Commanders 400 points here Ran them off at the ends and 175. We've got rookie auto rpa kennan walker the third Man that was a nice first box box too. All right. We've got a rookie of ty chandler vikings Marcus mariota for the falcons on the gold the 25 Brett farve tunnel vision green for the packers That is two of 25 to 125 unbreakable for the cowboys jaylen tulbert to 125 texans Got a redemption there out of john mechie the third texans Got a redemption up next auto's electric etch yellow card 15 Of matt stafford nice one there Just want to confirm that it's going to be a ram stafford Yes rams and it's yellow that'll be to 25 or less rams and to 99 horizontal rpa orange brian robinson jr.  I'll see another color blast Got cadarius tony base for the chiefs Uh purple etch to 100 hasan haskins rookie titans and remandry stevens and patriots 10 Nice off color match there on the red To 25 cardinals unbreakable rookie patch tray mcbride Two color patch there to 125 unbreakable rookie patch kenneth walker the third seahawks To 75 Niners rookie auto tyrian davis price And to 175 rpa for the jets grease hall That's just just box four uh hasan haskins rookie titans Kenneth walker the third purple etch to 100 seahawks courtland Sutton on the green five of 50 broncos rookie eruption to 75 nice three color patch there stealers calvin austin the third Steelers patch To 75 going to washington unbreakable sam howell first how we've seen today Orange for the commanders Another redemption here Aurora autos card five Of jason taylor nice jason taylor dolphins, right? I don't believe you'd be on any other team Yeah, dolphins For autos it'll be to 75. I believe 75 and specify and 175 rpa jamison williams Detroit's all right box five See another one of one bleak willis base rookie Titans pierce strong jr. Patriots to 50 Orange derek singly jr. Texans 24 75 17 out of 50 unbreakable rookie patch drake london falcons To 199 kairan williams rookie auto for the rams. Wow. We have here two out of five Mag magmatic of trai lance There you go niners. That's sick. Kind of a color match there Sam fran. That is alefonzo m Very nice it Get this one in a mag for you This lance and to 175 rpa pier strong jr. Patriots I'd say at least 250 250 on that Come on All right box six Here we go Got russell wilson No, it's a it's a sticker. It looks like it though Yeah, that's a sticker Danny dimes on the orange for the giants to 75 and erin rogers to 100 purple edge Going back to the cheeseheads. We got another erin rogers here on the equinox gear 115 of 199 rookie auto patreon mathis for the commanders Back-to-back hits here for washington to 25. How about a champ bailey? Redskins champ bailey on the galaxy ink that one's cool. You know p Killing it with washington And last one here 175 rookie auto of eric ezucan ma dolphins All right, give me one second here to set up the randomizer for the 400 All right, here we are Again all 32 teams in whatever team is on top after the random will win the 400 points 11 times one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 11 Going to the saints Saints taking home the 400 points All right recap time erin rogers packers drake london falcon sam howl commanders calvin also in the third Steelers kenneth walker the third seahawks tramac bride carnells john mitchie the third texans jalen tulbert cowboys brann robson jr commanders champ bailey washington fadrian mathis washington kiran williams rams davis prisoniners We had rams redemption matt stafford. That's going to be to 25 Dolphins as well jason taylor eric ezucan the dolphins pier strong jr patriots jameson williams lions breeze hall jets brann rams jr washington kenneth walker the third seahawks And then our mags cards. We had the tray lance two out of five on the magmatic for the niners two of five And then we had the one of one t higgins equinox gear One of one. All right, that'll do it for uh obsidian. We've got prism football coming up shortly. Thanks everyone