Hello, welcome to how to make a student visa application outside the UK. My name is John Hitchman, I'm the Student Advice Service Manager at Seras. We provide all the non-academic advice about things such as finance, immigration and accommodation. But today we're talking about specifically immigration and how to apply for a student visa outside the UK. Now as well as this webinar, we also have resources that you can use on the Seras website and they should be easy to find or you'll be sent links to them once you start applying for a visa or requesting a CAS. And these guides will help you with step by step guide to making the online student visa application but also the documents that you're going to need as well to make the application. So this is what we're going to be talking about today. How, where, when should you apply for your student visa? What documents do you need to show? How much money will you need to show? That's a big question.  And if you have any questions, I'm afraid this is just me recording this by myself. So I've got to answer them at the moment, but we will be able to answer your questions later on. So how to make a student visa application? Who can apply for a student visa? Well, you must have accepted an unconditional offer at Seras. And before you apply, you will need a thing called a CAS or a confirmation of acceptance for studies. Now CAS is an electronic document that contains all the details of your visa sponsorship at Seras, including your program and details that you provide about your passport. Now the CAS is uploaded onto a system that UK visas and immigration have access to. So UK visas and immigration, UK VI, they're the people that will grant your visa. So once you have that, you've got the document you need to make a visa on application online. And you're also going to need to meet the maintenance requirement. And that means you have to have enough money for your application. And we'll go into a lot more detail about both of these things as we go through. So how do you apply for a student visa? Well, you use an online application system. And then you pay a thing called the immigration health surcharge. So this is a payment towards the cost of the NHS National Health Service. That's the nationalised healthcare system that we have in the United Kingdom. So by paying that, you have access to that service throughout the duration of your studies at Seras. And that costs £470 per year of leave. So when we say leave, we mean per year of your visa. But there's an asterisk there, as you can see. And that's because some people, specifically EU nationals with a thing called an EHIC card, may be entitled to a refund of this thing called the immigration health surcharge. So you're starting your program this coming year. And you have the EHIC card that was issued in your EU country of residence. But I think the other key thing about qualifying for this refund is you don't intend to work while you're studying. So if you're only coming to the UK to study your program but do no parts on work, no other sort of work at all, then you may be able to get a refund from the IHS. OK, so to carry on, the application fee is £348 or 568 is for an expedited service. Now that service, you need to check the availability of that. And it may depend on what area you're applying in as to whether you can access that. You're likely going to need to upload some supporting documents. And then some people are going to need to attend a biometric appointment. Some people, specifically EU nationals at the moment, but it may be rolled out to other nationalities, will be able to use an app. And then this app collects your biometric data from your biometric passport and uses it again. So you don't need to attend a biometric appointment. But a lot of people do need to attend one. And then interview there. We've also got an asterisk. Some people will be asked to an interview. When we say asked to an interview, this would probably be most likely being remote. But it may be that you attend somewhere else and then attend the interview online. The interview is a very simple process at UK VR use just to ask some simple questions about why you wanted to study it. So as why you wanted to study in the UK is nothing to be worried about very straightforward. And then some of you are going to need to provide a TB test as well. So here from certain countries in the world where TB is still an issue, then you're going to need to provide a TB test as part of your application process before you can get your visa granted. So where can you apply for your student visa? So the usual place to apply is in your country of nationality, the country of your passport. But we've also got where you are living with inverted commas. And that's really because that's a UK VI definition of living. So what they mean by that is a country where you are resident. So if you're perhaps studying somewhere else and not in your country of nationality, not in the UK or working in another country or a third country, then you will have a visa that's probably a student or worker visa. And that would allow you to make the application for your UK student visa in that country. But if you're just visiting a country or visiting a number of countries and you're going to be there as a tourist or a visitor, that wouldn't be classified as living and that visa type wouldn't allow you to apply for your student visa. So that's the case. You're travelling around. You need to plan a return to your country of nationality in order to apply for your student visa. And once you've completed the online application, then you can usually book an appointment if you need to attend one. As we said, some people won't need to. And you can read the instructions where to go for that locally. So some of you, this appointment will include biometrics and some of it an interview. And for some of you, you may not need to attend an appointment at all. And for many people, you'll be issued a 90 day visa thing yet. So that's a visa sticker, which is that you may have seen those and the page stuck in your passport. It's stuck into a page for your passport that allows you travel to the UK. The 90 days allow some flexibility. That's been there since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But dates of travel won't be so flexible, hopefully in the future because we'll be getting back to a sort of normality of studying. So should be arriving well in time for the start of the academic year in 2022. Normally, if you've got the vignette, you'll be collecting your biometric residence permit. So once you're in the UK, that's a plastic card that contains your biometric data. And the vignette is for traveling into the UK once. But the BRP or biometric residence permit is the document that you use from then on as your visa. And it also proves the conditions of your stay. So things like working, your right to work in the UK and the duration of your visa that's all included on your BRP. But if you're somebody, any national that was able to use this app to apply for your visa, you don't have a BRP. You'll have a digital status. So that's something you can log into on a website to look at. But it's associated with your passport then. So when you travel through the border, you just show your passport or even touch your passport on an eGate. And the eGate will read your visa and allow you entry on that basis. So when should you apply for your student visa? So you can actually apply up to six months before your course or program start date. But as we've said, you need to have a CAS. So you need to have that thing, a confirmation of acceptance for studies. And it's important before you apply to make sure you have all the listed academic documents. But that's now for students out who are studying below degree level. We know that's a few of you out there. And to make sure that you meet the financial requirements and have the correct documents to show that as well. So more people are going to require that. And we'll explain what those documents are shortly. So as an overview of the whole documentary requirement, you'll need a valid passport. Our general advice is to have six months of validity. This skips the admissions team time to issue your CAS.  If your passport expires once you're in the UK, you can apply for replacement. But it needs to be valid on the day you travel. You need that thing, the CAS that I keep mentioning and confirmation acceptance for studies. And then you need the qualifications that are listed in your CAS statement, but only if you're studying below degree level. And you may need proof of English language ability. So there are different tests. You can sit to prove that on the service website that I mentioned. But you only need to show those if you're studying below degree level as well. A proof of maintenance is more likely that you are going to need that. So that's proof to show that you meet the financial requirement of the visa. And then if you have any documents that you're submitting to support your application that are not written in English, you're going to need to get official translation of those documents. So it needs to be done by a professional translator. You can't do that yourself. And then you submit those translations to. And then some of you will be from countries that are classified as low risk. So we're saying that you need to prove maintenance or provide some academic documents, maybe in certain situations. If you're low risk, you don't need to submit those documents with your application. However, those documents can be requested and you're completing a visa application to say you have them and that you meet the requirements that these documents prove. So it's really important that you're prepared to submit them because they may be requested later. And it's also important that you're completing a form honestly and you form accurately to reflect your situation. So CAS, how do you get one of those? So your CAS can be issued in, well, there's two separate situations.  If you're a postgrad, research or tour, you've accepted an unconditional offer and you've paid the £2,000 deposit. You must inform the admissions team about scholarships you've been awarded. They can be put onto your CAS if those have been dispersed through SOAS or the SOAS scholarships. The earlier you can use your CAS and apply for your visa is up to six months before your course start date as we've discussed. So if you're an undergraduate student, when you're completing a new UCAS application, you would have indicated whether you need the student visa.  And then in that form, you need to submit documents to support your CAS application or just say it's all the information that colleagues in the admissions team need. So colour scan of your passport, evidence of your scholarship if it's one that SOAS is administering or SOAS scholarship, evidence of your tuition fee payment if you've paid them. I'm going to talk a little bit more about that later when we talk about maintenance. Previous UK visas if you've travelled to the UK and studied in the UK before. Parental consent form as well if you're under 18 years of age. And as I said, the advice is to have a passport with six months of validity on it, which gives you enough time to have your CAS issued and travelled to the UK before your passport expires. And then there's a deadline to request your CAS and that will be 30 days before the start of your programme. So if you're a post-grad student, a slightly different situation. If you're signed to your CAS, you will need an unconditional offer. You need to have accepted the offer, pay the deposit, provide the official evidence that you've been awarded a scholarship or are being sponsored by a recognised sponsor, your home government, international organisation or international government. So partly you're proving a scholarship because you're proving to SOAS how you're going to pay your fees, but if it's a scholarship that has been issued through SOAS then it's possible to put that on your CAS and that's a way to prove on your CAS that you have the finances that you need. So post-graduate students to be signed to your CAS you need to complete the CAS request form, similar to undergrads, provide a similar supporting document. So it's kind of possible. Evidence of scholarship if it's relevant. Evidence of your tuition fee payments they've been paid at that point. Previous UK student visas if you studied in the UK before. Your parental consent form if you're under 18 and a valid passport for six months. And again, 30 days before the course start they will be the deadline to apply. Please check your CAS both under grad and post-grad and make sure the details are correct. It's really important that you don't have any mistakes, any differences between, for instance, your passport has the date of birth, your name, everything needs to be absolutely correct. If you see any errors, contact the CAS request team and they will be able to amend that for you. Okay, so we've covered the documents that you need in general. But let's look a little bit more specifically now how much money will you need to show. So if you're studying a program that's longer than eight months in length that will include our degree programs at SOAS. Then you'll need to show that your full fees for one year have been paid and you'll need maintenance of £12,006. Okay, so you don't need full fees for the whole of your program just for one year and you need to show maintenance of £12,006. So the program is shorter than eight months. You need to show the full fees for the program plus £1,334 for each month or partial month. And what that means is if you say for instance you were studying for three and a half months you would need to show £1,334 multiply by three but round it up to four because it's always rounded up. So you would show £1,334 for four months even though it's for three and a half months. So if it's a partial month you round it up to the next month. If your fees are shown as paid on your CAS you don't need to show that money held in any other way. Now if you're sponsored or receiving loans then you're going to need to show you some documentation of those but if your sponsorship is via SOAS that is something that can be shown on your CAS but again you need to check your CAS and make sure it's on there and it accurately reflects what you're receiving and has a detail about your sponsorship. So if your sponsorship or loans don't cover the full cost of your tuition fees and maintenance is outlined above then you'll need to show the remainder in your bank account and for everybody else that isn't getting fees and loans and sponsorship you'll need to show all the money in your bank account. So the money can be in a bank account in your name or the name of a parent and the money needs to be held for consecutive 28-day period before the day that you apply it. Now the date that you apply is the date that you pay online for your visa application. It's not the date that you visit the visa application centre or any other date the date that you pay online so the date that you pay the fee and if you're using money in your parent's account or it could be a legal guardian's account too you'll need some evidence so you either need your birth certificate to prove your relationship with your parent or a court document or legal document to prove your legal guardianship and you'll also need a little permission from your parent or legal guardian as well. Now if money is being paid for accommodation that can't be deducted so in the visa application form it will ask if you've paid money for accommodation whether you have or not unfortunately you can't deduct that from the amount of money that you need to show because SOAS doesn't own the accommodation the accommodation is all owned by third party providers so please don't rely on deducting any money because you've already paid for accommodation.  So this session is being recorded for January 2022 so accommodation applications won't be open at the moment but when they do you can apply as soon as you have a firmed offer you can apply via the seller's website and after viewing all the options that are listed there you'll then receive an offer of accommodation and a short time limit to accept it so you need to be quite quick to grab that offer if you want it so you need to pay a deposit to hold that offer so the amount that you paid will depend on which one of our accommodation providers you are booking with so accommodation is guaranteed for all first-year students and contracts start in September 2022 so at the moment as I said applications you can check our website applications will be opening but probably around March but you can email accommodation with any queries but have a look at the website first to get a good idea of what we have available and then once your visa is granted you can check that the details are correct this is really important that you do this quite quickly so if you're studying a degree level programme you should have 20 hours per week of work allowed with full time work during the vacation and if your programme is one year or more in length you should have 4 months after the course end date of the programme of duration on your visa if your programme is between 6 and 12 months you should have 2 months of duration after the course end date if any of this isn't correct you can report the areas the best way to do this would be to report them to the visa application centre in your home country before you travel but if you're unable to do that in time if you're in the UK report a BRP error within 10 days of collecting your BRP then post office and while Covid-19 is probably less of a problem now than it has been we've got a very strong vaccination programme in the UK it is still an issue and it's still having an impact on travel as I'm sure it is in your home country so it's a good idea to check the gov.uk border control website just to get an idea of what you may need to do before you travel to the UK with Covid-19 in mind so that's really the end of this presentation I hope it's been useful you should give a good idea of how to apply for a UK visa once you've used the presentation look at all our supporting documents and guidance then we look forward to seeing you at SOAS in September 2022 just before you go I'd like to just briefly mention the graduate route so you may have heard of this this is a new visa that started just this year in July and it's a post-study work visa it's a visa that allows you to work for either two or three years after you've completed your degree and you must have completed an undergraduate, postgraduate or research degree for an undergraduate bachelor's degree or a postgraduate master's degree you can get a two-year post-study work visa and for a research degree PhD you can get a three-year post-study work visa and you can apply once you've completed successfully your programme and your successful completion has been uploaded by SOAS to UKVI if you have dependence in the UK they can also apply at the same time as you and we'll tell you a lot more about this during the duration of your course so that's the end of my presentation as I said we don't have any questions today but we'll be contacting you soon with some live sessions and other ways that you can get in touch with us so I hope it was useful and thanks very much for listening


More like emptiness MPS? On my rice What do we often MPS have in common? Embezzlement The camera work is shocking And they call that audio Who's behind this book? Classic communication students If Sarah McGlocken asks me to tweet one more time I'm gonna pour milk on her MPS With the MPS In Gips Hmm MPS A charity Children And dreams The 24 hour broadcast would raise a lot more money If the DCU MPS Weren't dickheads? Broadcast is embarrassing What? I'll show you Hurricane Desmond was sent by God To try and wipe out demortification That is the 24 hour broadcast


I want to encourage you to begin to develop your personal private prayer because Without prayer your life will be empty in your life will be dry Jesus prayed when he was on earth Somebody said why do you guys pray so much? It is done already. It's finished on the cross You know you already have everything that you need to have why so much praying morning prayers Friday Friday prayers Night vigil prayers you guys pray and pray and fast. It's already done. You don't need to do so much. You don't need to strive So hard. It's already done. Yes Positionally in Christ. It's finished on the cross But practically we have to transform transport I mean that things that's already been done in having realms down to earth so they manifested physically in our life If by this theory we go then why did Jesus had to pray so much Bible says he spent mornings in prayer Bible says he spent nights of prayer and Bible says he prayed in public If Jesus being son of God Having full revelation of his authority knowing who he is Trust me. He wasn't struggling with identity. He knew exactly having full power of heaven invested in him yet He's still prayed you gotta pray. I gotta pray We gotta pray as a church.  Deemers were coming out Do you think it's an accident?  They surrendered it to the kingdom of darkness And so therefore our prayer is like a visa in a passport That we sent over to the heavenly realms that allows angels to come And operate on our behalf in a book of Daniel. It's clearly demonstrated Bible angel came and he said that the first day you prayed your prayer was answered But I encountered some forces on the way I encountered some some strongholds I encountered some princes and and principalities of air that I had to fight through and thank God didn't stop praying Because because of your prayer I received support from heaven and I was able to come and bring you that answer That's why we pray church. That's why we have to pray much. That's why we have to pray more That's why we have to abide in God the more we pray the more we fast the more we commit ourselves to God The more we consecrate ourselves to God the more God will be able to do through us and in us in Jesus mighty name Amen touch your neighbor. See tell him be a prayer be prayerful prayer demonstrates dependency on God and Our trust in him Bible says trust on the Lord with all your heart Lead none lead not on your own understanding acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your path in Thessalonians 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 17 Apostle Paul encourages us he says pray Without ceasing couple things a prayer does prayer helps you to avoid temptation in Matthew chapter 26 Jesus says watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Do you find yourself struggling? with temptation with lust with Different kinds of thoughts different negative thoughts Tempted with all kinds of things and you can't seem to break out of it. Maybe because there's lack of prayer in your life Maybe you need to go in and ease you go into a secret closet and begin to consecrate yourself to God begin to meditate on the word of God begin to pray and Bible says when you pray you will avoid Temptation prayer is a place where we unload our burdens Our generation especially the millennial generation They got in these tendencies to unload the burdens on social media Instagram Facebook they they feel like the Lord listens to them more when they post it and Describe those things that they're going through on their social media, but the Bible calls us to go in their secret closet. I believe that if we Come on. Let's go right here for Jesus. I Believe that if we spend more time behind the shut doors praying to God and pouring out our heart and Relieve our burdens there the last things will be posted on social media Regarding our struggles and problems Therefore I tell you whatever you ask in prayer Believe that you have received it and it will be yours mark 1124 Jesus said prayer Jesus said seek knock Ask seek and knock and it will be given to you and so I want to encourage you today Pray pray without ceasing see God pray that God will fill you with his spirit Be continuously filled with God in your in your secret place, and you will see that your situation will Will change you will see your family will change you will see your business will change you will see that Inside of you things will be different apostle Paul says to Timothy fight according to your prophecies I know there's some people That are misguided about prophecies. They're misguided about The words that were spoken over the life and as we were praying these last two prayer lines We were also releasing word of knowledge and word of prophecy some of you received some prophetic words into your life I want you to not just relax and say well the man of God said it's gonna happen the man of God said I'm gonna be prosperous in the business So I'm just gonna it chips a sit on a couch watch Netflix and God's gonna give me business That's not the way it works fight according to your prophecies Start a business Begin to go out there work hard and God will give you that breakthrough If God has promised a restoration in your family, oh Man of God said it it settles it. That's it. It's done No begin to work on your marriage begin to listen to the podcast begin to listen to the books But go to the consulate surround yourself with the God the people begin to work out your prophecies in your life Begin to pray them out begin to fight in a spiritual realm Against the powers and principalities and darkness that are blocking the presence of God They're blocking that prosperity in your life. They're blocking that peace and harmony in your marriage. They're blocking Your career path in Jesus name and I want to tell you something the greater the prophecy of your life The heart of the battle will be in your life The harder and the more you're gonna have to pray and fast that that word of God Comes through in your life. It's not that God fails. It's not that man of God is wrong Sometimes they miss it. It's true. There's still man first of God second Okay, there's still man, but I want to tell you what Whether you receive the prophecy or not if you go in a secret place in in your closet and you pray it out You will have what you pray for because that's what Jesus said and that's the most true prophecy that we need


Hello! I wanted to take this chance and do a quick video describing the Wim Hof method. In case you don't know about it, it's a breathing technique from a guy called Wim Hof, who has 26, I think, world records. He basically climbed the Everest in his underwear, swam for like five minutes underwater in freezing temperatures, and did lots of other stuff. You can read about him, Wim Hof. Also, he teaches people how to do that. So he has this breathing technique, this breathing method where you take 30 to 45, kind of like deep breaths, and then let the air kind of like slide out. And what happens is you keep more air in than out, and you oxidate the blood. Again, I'm giving a very brief summary. So I've been doing it for about a month and a half now, daily, and the results are amazing in terms of the energy it gives you and makes you think clearly, you feel good. It helps you cure any disease you have, helps you get rid of pain and depression. It's an incredible thing. I really, really love it, and it's getting better the more I do it. Also, the most amazing part is that you can use it to, when you oxidize yourself like that, you use it for performance in athletic feats. So for example, after doing the 45 rounds of breathing, the 45 basically breaths, based on the Wim Hof method, I can do more push-ups without breathing. So I do the 45 breaths, and then I do push-ups while holding my breath. So not even breathing, just letting the air out, just not even breathing. And regularly I do like 55 push-ups, but with the Wim Hof method, I do 80 push-ups. That's my best record so far, without any breath. So zero breathing, 80 push-ups. Again, that's mine, that's relative, but versus like 55, 60 with breathing, which is insane. And also after I do the push-ups, I don't feel, my chest doesn't feel painful in any way. So it's an amazing technique. It makes you feel good, gets rid of disease, makes you feel less pain, more tolerance. Your cold resistance goes through the roof.  Like you'd be less, more resistant to cold than even people you know who you consider resistant to cold. Like you become really good with cold. It's insane. So yeah, I do it every single day. It's one of the best things that I do in terms of my daily habits. And I highly recommend that you try it. You can download the free Wim Hof method. I'll link it in the description. Again, it's free. It's not like affiliate link or something. Completely free. With the demonstrations, you can also use the app to learn how to do it, why you should do it, and also to track your progress because you become able to hold your breath for longer and longer periods. And also do more and more push-ups and just become physically and emotionally much stronger. So highly recommended Wim Hof. The guy's going to be probably in the next 10 years extremely famous because he's revolutionizing science. Again, it's all scientifically backed. So he's not like those gurus that say, oh, I have this technique that changes your life, but there's no backing. He actually gets regularly tested with Santas by different, you know, so hematologists for blood, disease Santas, any sort of field, they test them and everything checks and you can actually see it online. So it's completely real. And again, he teaches people how to do that. So it's not just him. So check him out Wim Hof, Wim Hof method. Download the free app. And if you're depressed, if you want to be more higher functioning, faster, stronger, more resistant to cold, happier, just better in life, you know, just better in everything. Get this free app and try this and at least commit for like two weeks. It's going to revolutionize your life. So thanks for watching. And I hope you download this app and let me know if you have any questions.


What's up, how are you guys as usual? We got some new things going on down at Frankie's free range meat this week I guess new new new is duck eggs, which I'll show you guys first We should have all of the beef glandulars coming in tomorrow So how do you guys have an emailing us about the beef testicles all that type of stuff? We should have it in this week. The fresh beef chair We'll be coming back in another two or three weeks. So you guys are already placing pre-orders Be sure if you guys do want the fresh beef share when we ship it out to place your order as soon as possible and just another friendly reminder for all the California West Coast customers Washington, Oregon Nevada Las Vegas all those places. Please try to place an order like a hundred fifty dollars or above because With the increased shipping rates with the increased pricing on everything We're having a hard time even breaking even when we ship orders out there if it's a little less I feel bad announcing the duck eggs because we're sold out We had a few hundred dozen come in last Wednesday. I sent out an email. Maybe I should have sent it Oh wait, the organs are already here Looks like the delivery came today instead of tomorrow, which is great So now you guys know we have them for sure. We just have to pack them up still see here We have the beef testicles. They're kind of bulk package So we got to separate these and pack them individually for you guys Yeah, we got a lot of testicles all the other glands to a genothyroid, but what's new is the bovine prostate gland. Yeah, that looks like that's going to be fun to separate Well, there you have it bovine prostate glands and we have some ovaries over here, too Oh, these are kind of creepy looking. What's that thing called when you have a trypophobia or whatever man? Those are creepy looks like some alien thing For you ladies that why your estrogen? Kind of gross, but you guys want it So yeah, I guess we have the glands and but guys It's going to take us like a few days to a week to get those ready So they're not going to be listed on the website maybe until this weekend So in the phrase guys, we have a bunch of dairy products still in stock cottage cheese Fresh farmers cheese. I think there's some yogurt in here too some kefir some cream So here we have our duck eggs and as I said, most of them are sold out guys So maybe in another two weeks. We'll have some more these are much more expensive than the chicken eggs But they're also a lot richer higher cholesterol content. So you could kind of argue they're more nutritious and I Used to be able to eat duck eggs just fine, but I would have allergic reactions to chicken eggs So they are a little less allergenic for some people. I think the chicken eggs are About 60% of the price. So, you know, we're paying almost double to the farmer for these duck eggs because the ducks do not lay as frequently, but Also, you guys are excited for this. So just keep it out on the website for the restocks By the time this video is posted there might be like one or two orders worth of duck eggs left But that's going to be it. Also just made some fresh rare roast beef sliced up today While we are in the fridge plenty of water kefir grains in stock Water kefir as well. We got the ginger and then we got the pineapple Yeah, we also got a lot of coolers in last week. So Warehouse is pretty full Let's hop in the freezer real quick see if I Remember anything going on cause and brought that as usual restocked every week Kind of ran out of caviar, but it's coming tomorrow. Speaking of caviar. You guys haven't buying all of the sturgeon caviar Which is just hackleback. It's not like super expensive like Russian caviar stuff But let me know if you guys want some of the more expensive caviar I might try some and just get a few in stock, but they're usually really really expensive like 150 200 dollars just for an ounce We did put the ground tenderloin on sale. I think it's 11 or 12 dollars a pound You know, we just try to move through things as quickly as possible Even if we break even beef tongues back in stock a week or two ago Ton of ground lamb. I think we have like a few hundred pounds of ground lamb We put it on sale around seven dollars because the blend is a little fatty So definitely let me know how you guys like it now some of you guys remember we had the steak sale running about two months ago We did restock some regular ribeye steaks, which are still very very affordable very low priced We still have the organic sirloin steaks. I guess you have a handful of organic ribeye here, too I got to restock But the main deal right now on the steak sale is New York strip steaks. I think these are five or six dollars each online I forgive me for the pricing guys don't have the best memory But I think we're selling these strip steaks for about six dollars each for a ten ounce steak It's just kind of unheard of online and we got a decent amount left But for the most part will be done with them in about two weeks We did restock the marrow butter last week you guys have what most of it And I'm gonna see if we can get some more back in this is just like the pieces of marrow How it out from the canoe bone so it's a little cheaper as opposed to buying like the canoe bones or the Pipe cup bones. I don't realize you still have a decent amount of veal brain left I have to restock that we still have some of the beef share left guys So if you want the hot dogs the beef scrapple the spice beef social. Oh wait, we do have hot dogs left now I'm confused. I thought we ran out of hot dogs We have hot dogs spice beef sausage smoke beef sausage scrapple and bologna So I guess I got to add hot dogs to the the share and we did also restock some of the Iberico pork bacon So we should also be getting the Iberico pork sausages that I've been mentioning several times the breakfast sausage as well as a plain regular sausage and Another dairy delivery should be coming Wednesday. Honestly. I'm I'm a little frustrated with how the dairy has been going So we might not be able to continue doing it, but we'll see we'll see how it goes for another week or two So organ supplements. I'll show you guys on the website. We just have the new packages vitamin mineral digestive Just a few different bundles that you can save some money on on the Wi-Fi shielding We did restock the head covers as well as the grounding shoe straps if you guys have been waiting for that Frankie's Nationals we might try to do some new products to get like a cold pack or to do some different branding. I Guess that's it for today guys. I'd love to hang around and chat, but my brain is not working as You guys can see by my temperament in this video Looks like the construction workers are digging more holes in the street We did sit on email last week I asked you guys to leave us Google reviews And then we would give like a five dollar discount on your next order if you left the Google review But if you guys could also please I just upvote the good Google reviews because you know There's still like a bunch of people that were harassing me and stuff leaving reviews that Like they kind of upvoted themselves. So go figure Yes, so we'll wrap things up for today guys If you want the fresh beef share pre-order it if you're waiting for the beef testicles or the glandular is definitely Check the website out around this weekend. That's when we should be restocking them But you guys can go to frank-to-fire.com where you will see Frankie's Surrange meat as well as Frankie's Surrange food and all of the other businesses We did Before I forget We did restock the banana rice crisp bar a few you guys asked me about that We do have it now so banana rice crisp bar is back in stock and This weekend we should also be making some more of the meat bars the Pemekin Some beef jerky again. That's it guys. Thank you for the continued support If you could drop a like on the video leave a comment down below Make sure to subscribe and check that notification bell and we'll see you guys soon


I will move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motions 13018 and 13017, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon on the appointment of Scottish ministers and junior Scottish ministers. Members should note that the questions on the motions will be put immediately after the debate. I shall invite the First Minister to speak to and move the motions. I will then invite party representatives to make short contributions and then the First Minister to reply. I call on Nicola Sturgeon to speak to and move the motions. Before I turn to the nominations that I am seeking the approval of Parliament for today, can I confirm to Parliament that it is with regret that I will not be asking Parliament to approve the appointment of Gillian Martin as a minister? Over the course of this morning, information about content on a blog written by her more than 10 years ago have been brought to my attention. I was not previously aware of all the comments that I am now aware of. This content, however ill-advised it may be, does not reflect the views of the person that I know in Gillian Martin. However, the content merits my further consideration and I will therefore not ask Parliament to approve this appointment until I have had the chance to reflect further. However, I rise today to seek Parliament's agreement that Shirley-Anne Somerville, Michael Russell, Jeane Freeman, Hamza Yousaf and Aileen Campbell will be appointed as Scottish ministers, and that Ash Denham, Ben Macpherson, Christina McKelvie, Claire Hawkeigh, Graham Day, Ivan McKee, Kate Forbes and Mary Gougeon will be appointed as Scottish junior ministers. Before I do so, let me record my thanks to those who are leaving government. Firstly, Keith Brown is leaving to become the full-time deputy leader of the SNP. He has many achievements that he can be very proud of, including overseeing the construction of the magnificent New Queensbury Crossing and securing Scotland's excellent record of attracting inward investment. Angela Constance also served with distinction not only in laying the groundwork for the dramatic fall in youth unemployment that we have seen in recent years, but also in being a strong voice at the Cabinet table for those who are not always heard in society. The fact that Scotland has received international recognition for the work that we have done to support refugees on LGBTI plus rights, on women's issues and many other areas is in no small part down to Angela's leadership. Finally, Shona Robison has been a compassionate and effective health secretary. Even with more patients being seen than ever before, Shona leaves a legacy of high levels of patient satisfaction and the lowest A&E waiting times in the whole of the UK. Her final act as a minister was to offer a 9 per cent pay rise over three years to our NHS staff, a fitting tribute to the way that Shona Robison has always championed their interests. The last couple of years I know have been particularly challenging for Shona personally. I have to say that the dignified way in which she has remained dedicated to the NHS, while under pressure, is a lesson in how politicians should seek to conduct themselves. I am very proud to call her not just a colleague but a very valued friend. Finally, I would also like to thank the departing ministers, Alasdair Allan, Annabelle Ewing and Maureen Watt, each of whom have left their own legacies in government. The outpouring of thanks for those who have been leaving government over the last 40 hours from stakeholder organisations, some opposition MSPs, members of the media and the wider public, I think, speaks for itself. I know that MSPs from across the chamber will wish all of them well in the future. Let me turn now to the new appointment, turning first to the new cabinet appointment. Humza Yousaf has been an outstanding minister for transport in the islands. He has championed all forms of transport in Scotland at the weekend. I even saw that he had started to take flying lessons. The islands bill that he steered through Parliament is a major step forward for our island communities. As the minister for the beast from the east and many other unexpected events, Humza has more than proven his ability to calmly manage complex situations, and I know that he will be an excellent justice secretary. Of course, Humza will be Scotland's first cabinet member from an ethnic minority background. That is a significant personal achievement for him, but I also think that it is a significant milestone for this Parliament. Humza will also become the youngest of our cabinet secretary. The generational change in Scottish politics has certainly been brought home to me when I consider that, in Humza, I have just appointed someone to my cabinet who I first met when I spoke to his high school modern studies class some years ago. I have asked Jeane Freeman to become cabinet secretary for health and sport. Jeane has taken the enormous responsibility of overseeing the devolution of social security powers in her stride. Her forensic grasp of her brief has ensured that this process remains well on track. Importantly, Jeane has never treated this task simply as some Government project to manage. At every step of the way, she has adopted a bottom-up approach, making sure that our fellow citizens at the heart of the social security system are listened to and treated with dignity and respect. For those and many other reasons, Jeane is an ideal choice for her new role. With the groundwork now laid for Scotland's new social security system, the focus now moves on to its operation, and such a vital part of government needs a permanent voice at the cabinet table. I therefore asked Shirley-Anne Somerville to become Scotland's first dedicated cabinet secretary for social security and older people. Since her appointment in 2016, Shirley-Anne has delivered substantial progress on widening access to university, improving student support for further and higher education and safeguarding Scotland's academic excellence and innovation. Aileen Campbell will take on the new role of cabinet secretary for communities and local government. Aileen has shown strong leadership in a number of areas, not least in championing a public health approach to problem drug use and tackling overweight and obesity. Finally, over the past two years, Michael Russell has been relentless in standing up for Scotland's interests in the Brexit process, not least his work in exposing the power grab that lies at the heart of the EU withdrawal bill. Mike has, to the irritation, no doubt of some opposition MSPs, become omnipresent in Parliament, TV and the numerous events that he has invited to both in Scotland and further afield. This is testament to the way in which he has so effectively kept the minutiae and the chaos of the Brexit process under real effective public scrutiny. His return to cabinet is as necessary as it is deserved. With a new chapter opening up in the Brexit process, it is right that the enormous impact it will have on our economy and our society is fully reflected at cabinet level. A number of other individuals remain in cabinet. Derek Mackay will assume responsibility for the economy and fair work in addition to finance. Michael Matheson will take on the new brief of transport and infrastructure. I have asked Roseanna Cunningham, Fergus Ewing, Fiona Hyslop and John Swinney to continue in their respective roles. John will also continue to serve as deputy First Minister, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for the personal support and advice that he continues to offer to me and to other ministers. With that, I now turn to the junior ministerial appointments. After 11 years in office, it is encouraging that this Government is still able to draw on a wealth of new talent from our backbenches. Today's nominees represent constituencies, the length and breadth of our country, and they bring an enormous amount of political, personal and professional experience into government. Claire Hockey is a former mental health nurse who continues to hold an honorary nursing position, and she will take on the role of Minister for Mental Health. Kate Forbes has been an excellent MSP and I think will make an excellent minister for public finances and digital economy, working with the finance secretary and managing the Scottish budget and on tax policy. As if promoting Humza had not made me feel old enough, Kate's appointment also represents a first. She is the first Scottish minister to be born in the same decade as the Scottish Parliament itself. Ivan McKee, who has extensive business experience, will take on the role of Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation, building on Scotland's strong record of attracting inward investment in recent years and working to boost exports. Christina McKelvie becomes Minister for Older People and Equalities, building on her experience as convener of the Scottish Parliament's Human Rights and Equalities Committee. Mary Gougeon, who has represented Scotland on the Committee of the Regions and has recently held the United Kingdom Government to account on the rights of EU migrants, including her own husband, will be Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment. Ash Denham, who has ably and effectively assisted in prosecuting the case against the EU withdrawal bill, is to be Minister for Community Safety. Ben Macpherson takes on the role of Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development, and I know that having literally walked 500 miles from Scotland to London in his younger days to promote international peace, he will bring a real personal commitment to Scotland's international development work. Graham Day, who is a highly effective committee convener, who in that role has put ministers under regular pressure, will now find out what it is like on the other side. As the new minister for parliamentary business and veterans, there is no revenge whatsoever in that appointment. Finally, I am pleased that Joe Fitzpatrick, Jamie Hepburn, Paul Wheelhouse, Mary Todd and Kevin Stewart have agreed to remain in part of the ministerial team. As well as a gender-balanced cabinet, I am pleased to say that the new junior ministerial team will be gender balanced for the first time. Of course, every one of today's nominees is there on merit, and I know that there will be hugely effective members of the ministerial team. I also know that the riching to get started and get on with the job, so I move the motion in my name today, and it gives me great pleasure to do so. That is not the speech that I would hope to make at all. For seven years, I have scrupulously avoided on those occasions making remarks that are at all partisan in character. All of us are elected to this Parliament with the hope that one day we can serve in government. True, Scottish Conservatives have hoped certainly for longer than most. So, for those who are leaving the Government or for those who are joining, this is a significant personal moment. I am genuinely sorry that all the materials so many of their colleagues had volunteered to me just do not seem appropriate now. I would like to start by paying tribute to Shona Robison. For as long as there has been a Scottish SNP Government, Shona Robison has been a member of it. I have always found when working with her to be enormously committed to the national health service and to be tremendously well briefed in every aspect of it. She has, to her credit, the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which she also was instrumental at a ministerial level in ensuring that it took effect as successfully as it did. She was a very hardworking exponent of alcohol minimum unit pricing. She has not had our troubles to seek, and I hope that all is well with her, and I certainly, on behalf of everyone on this party, even if we think that fresh leadership and health might now be the right course going forward, with Shona Robison, our thanks and our very best wishes for the future. I also want to thank the other ministers who are leaving the Government. In Keith Brown's case, I particularly want to thank him for all the work and focus that he brought to veterans issues. As a veteran himself, the fact that that was so, was so hugely appreciated by all of the organisations who have participated in the cross-party group on veterans affairs and by the wider veterans community in particular. His not being there, and I know that his interest is not going to diminish in their future at all. For the work that he did there, I thank him. I also thank Angela Constance, Alasdair Allan, Maureen Watt and Annabelle Ewing, too. I welcome to the Government quite a number of the appointments. I'm struggling not to use some of the material that I had hoped to do, but it wouldn't work, I don't think, today. But I do welcome Kate Forbes, Ben Macpherson. I think that Clare Hockey is actually one of the most inspired of the appointments that's been made. Her understanding of mental health issues I hope will be of a direct assistance and give real focus and drive to that issue. To Graham Day and also to Mary Gougeon, all of those appointments really stood out. I welcome Jeane Freeman to the health department. She's obviously done a tremendous job in bringing forward the social security bill. I say to her now, just as a flag, that obviously, with the concern that I have on issues relating to mesh, the fact that the Public Petitions Committee are set to produce a further report on the issue and that Professor Alison Britton is due to report probably at the beginning of the next session, that those are issues that I know and hope that she will be very, very engaged with, amongst all the other very considerable issues that are attached to health too. I do welcome Humza Yousaf. I'll maybe permit myself just the one line. The First Minister referred to his trying to be a pilot. Well, you always need to fall back in case you forget your motor insurance policy. But I'll leave it there. I do welcome and congratulate. I had some lovely things to say about Aileen Campbell too and I just can't. I'll save them. I hope that there will be another point. Sadly, unfortunately, a reshuffle that, in some ways, was intended to bury bad news has become bad news. It was intended to take away from the U-turn in education. It was probably supposed to distract us from unfortunate events this week in relation to Heathrow. A year ago, after the election, the First Minister said this, any Government after 10 years needs to take stock and refresh. I thought that meant that we were getting a reshuffle a year ago. That is a reshuffle that has been a year in the making. It should surely have been underpinned by a vetting procedure that is fit for purpose. Richard Leonard made reference to the remarks of Gillian Martin a moment ago.  Often complain about the quality of the food then the small portions. American blacks don't tip at all or tip next to nothing to be avoided. The waiters also black remember would do anything to avoid serving a table of blacks or be openly disappointed if allocated to one. I'm sorry, that is shocking. I can't make light of that. I've got to say to the First Minister's opening remarks, and I understand the tradition on this occasion, but this is a judgment about the First Minister herself. She's done this job long enough. Thin excuses don't really cut it. A reshuffle a year in the making ought not now to stand as the most notorious reshuffle in the history of this Parliament. It's a real shame. There are ministers being elected this afternoon who deserve better. There are ex-ministers saying their farewells who deserve more thanks. Instead, frankly, thanks to the First Minister, all of that is now going to get drowned out. While we obviously support the appointments this afternoon, this isn't how it should have happened and it's deeply depressing for Parliament that that is how it is happening. This is a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle. It was clear to us many months ago that something had to change in the health portfolio. At First Minister's questions, Richard Leonard told the First Minister time and time again that the health service was being badly let down and that Shona Robison needed to go. It took her until this week to listen to us. Now, in fairness to Shona Robison, she inherited a health service that was failing. A health service where training places had been slashed by her predecessor, the First Minister. Shona Robison was left presiding over a health service with chronic staff shortages, with no long-term planning and where care of the elderly was failing. This is the 70th birthday of the NHS and never in its 70 years has it been in such peril. Staff are stressed, many of them believing that they are not able to provide the level of care that they would wish. At the very least, the First Minister can do for them is to make sure that there are adequate resources for our NHS staff—both staff and finance—provided to them. Care of our elderly shames us all. A generation who, at the time of post-war austerity, funded a health service free at the point of need, out of taxation, when they were already suffering personally. Therefore, we must ensure that they receive the full benefits of the health service that they created into their old age, and reshuffling the Cabinet will not do that, what we need is investment in staff and services. The First Minister also changed the finance and economy brief. She obviously believes that the Scottish economy is doing so well that a job that previously required two Cabinet secretaries is now in the hands of only one. Maybe on reading the growth commission report, she realised that, in comparison to the economy of an independent Scotland, we are doing very well. Scotland trails the rest of the UK with regard to the economy. At this time, she should be bolstering the brief rather than cutting it. Neither can we build a vibrant economy without a highly trained workforce. This training starts in the early years, building confidence and thirst for learning. Obviously, the SNP-backed benches do not agree with that. However, we see no change in the brief. John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport this week, shelved yet another groundbreaking bill that has been kept in place. He presided over an education system, where attainment rates are falling and teacher dissatisfaction is growing. However, to help him in this brief, he was given Gillian Martin, whose words and blogs have offended every minority group and indeed all of us. Common sense has prevailed and I welcome that the First Minister has had a change of heart with regard to this appointment. However, as Richard Leonard pointed out, this appointment calls into question the very judgment of the First Minister. Did she know about those comments before this appointment? If she believes that Gillian Martin is not fit to be a minister, is she really fit to be an MSP? Reshuffling the Cabinet gives the impression of action. However, the action that we really need is investment in our services, our schools, our hospitals and most of all our older generations. That reshuffle does nothing to address those issues. We in the Labour Party put forward proposals to raise finance to invest in our country. The investment needed to make a real change to Scotland and only a change of government will deliver that. Green has welcomed the opportunity to congratulate newly appointed ministers to their new roles. As a member of generation 2016, I am particularly pleased to see so many of my colleagues then being given positions of responsibility. Congratulations to you all. Recent photographs on the stairs of Bute House portraying a fresh-faced energetic group of still very young people raring to go is quite encouraging. We look forward to seeing that same photograph in three years' time. Before and after photo, it reveals how they have coped with the very real demands that come with ministerial office. They face significant challenges and will no doubt be tested in their new roles. Greens will continue to stay true to our values of equality, peace, environmental sustainability and radical democracy. We will continue to challenge all those in power in a constructive but determined manner. We all in this Parliament have an obligation to scrutinise government rigorously and effectively because we owe it to the people we represent to make sure that we have effective governance of this country. We are pleased to see an on-going commitment by the First Minister to gender balance in Scotland. Government is a reminder that there remains much work to do by many groups across society in equalities. To those departing, we say thank you to Keith Brown, Angela Constance and Shona Robison. In many regards, Shona Robison is a very important portfolio, a thankless task, but a particular thank you to her for her commitment and hard work and for the constructive way in which she has engaged with us at least over the past two years. Government is not easy and we owe it to those who serve to acknowledge this, while at the same time holding power to account. We would also like to pay particular welcome to Jeane Freeman at Health. Jeane is an excellent example of a cabinet secretary who has engaged extremely effectively with Parliament, with other parties and with external interests over the social security bill. We would that all legislation was handled in that very effective way and we wish her all the best in a very testing portfolio. Personally, I think that it is also good to see Michael Russell back in cabinet. He adds a bit of panaz and a bit of show business now and again. It is perhaps no secret that Greens would have hoped for at least one other change in the membership of cabinet. There are real on-going challenges ahead, austerity, demands on health and social care, revitalisation of local democracy, climate change, etc. All being taken forward under the long shadow of Brexit, which means that the next three years are going to be amongst the most difficult for all of us engaged in politics, not just in government. We welcome the First Minister's remarks in relation to the high standards expected of those who serve the people of Scotland. It is a reminder that we should all reflect, at all times, on what we say and how we carry ourselves very much matters. Congratulations to the cabinet secretaries and the junior ministers, best wishes, and we in the Greens look forward to working with you all in the remainder of this session. I will depart from my prepared remarks very briefly to address the events of this morning because Governments must reflect the better nature of the society that they seek to represent. That said, the First Minister has the full support of those benches in the very painful decision that she took this morning. That said, it is my great pleasure to respond to the ministerial appointments on the part of my party and to inject some more levity back into proceedings, because I know that many dreams will have come true today, and I congratulate everyone for that. There was a week of high drama. The First Minister gave out no less than six cabinet-level portfolios. It took me back to my first day on the job in this place, Presiding Officer, when I too was given six cabinet-level portfolios. I have been doing things that really should have seen me sacked by now, but my boss Willie keeps insisting that I am the only person for the jobs. I've only got four minutes, so I can't read the whole list of names that featured in the reshuffle because I've only got four minutes. There are so many names that I think it's quite surprising, given that when the SNP came to power in 2007, it was on the promise of slim down government, focused government, streamlined government, and now there are 25 of them. The former First Minister will be spinning in his Cremlin-backed studio. First of all, I want to say a big welcome to Jeane Freeman, who shares my portfolio of health. It's a great portfolio to represent. It's somewhat surprising that the health that obviously picked me is the one to watch. I don't know quite how you beat me to cabinet, but there you go. I want to welcome my fellow members of the 2016 intake, who are, I think, really great to see the talent that they will bring to the Government benches. Aileen, Shirley-Anne and Humzae, who are obviously being promoted, I will miss the Queen's Ferry crossing exchanges that we had, but there is, on a somber note, obviously those leaving government as well. I just want to recognise that ministerial service does come at a tremendous personal cost, not just to one's but to one's family as well. To Alasdair Allan, to Annabelle Ewing, to Maureen Watt, to Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown, you've done a service to your party and, indeed, that's culminated in a ministerial service to this country. I want to thank you for that and to thank your families for that as well. I want to focus particularly on two cabinet secretaries, Angela Constance and Aikon, as she's effectively known by the civil servants who will keenly feel her absence. You are going to be a very difficult and very flamboyant pair of shoes to fill. Shona Robison, my calls for Shona's resignation are a matter of public record, but I take no joy in that departure. She has always treated me with kindness, great generosity of time and I think has an obvious compassion about her, which is very uncommon in Scottish politics. I'm delighted to see Clare Hohe in the mental health position. I think it's fair to say that progress on mental health has not travelled the distance that we all hoped it would in the two years since the ministry was first created, but I know that her expertise will bring so much value to that position. Her task is going to be harder because there are more ministers around her. She's going to have to fight harder for that ministerial time and that recognition of that most important issue. My appeal from those benches to all cabinet secretaries and ministers is that mental health should not be siloed. It should be taken through as a golden thread every department of government. It is a bigger government today than it was yesterday. I said that at the top of my remarks. All told, the ministerial salary pot will cost the taxpayer an additional £275,000 a year than it did last week. That's significant when I put it in context that pound for pound that's exactly the amount of money that HIV Scotland stand to lose at the end of July. I would issue that appeal to the cabinet secretary for health and her junior ministers team. Please reflect on that because HIV is still growing in Scotland. I want to finish on a positive note. You have the best wishes of those benches. We wish you good fortune because the decisions that you make impact on the lives and interests of all our constituents, so make good choices. We will offer consensus where we can and resistance where we can't, but good luck and congratulations. I now call on the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to reply to the debate. I thank members who have spoken in this short debate for their good wishes to departing ministers, in particular the good wishes that have been expressed for Shona Robison and the congratulations and good wishes for new ministers. Those sentiments are very much appreciated. On the issue of Gillian Martin, I take the comments that have been made today absolutely on the chin. As First Minister, that is part of my responsibility and I don't hesitate to do so. I'll obviously reflect carefully, but let me make a number of points, three quick points in the time that I've got available to me. The comments that Jackson Carlaw read out in the chamber, I was genuinely not aware of. As I understand it, they came from blog posts from more than 10 years ago. Secondly, Gillian Martin has been a member of this Parliament for two years now and people across the chamber have got to know her well. I would simply ask people to ask themselves, in their heart of hearts, do they believe that the comments that we have read out there, however ill-advised they were and I do not take issue with that, reflect the person or the views of the person that they have come to know. The last point that I would make is this. When I was made aware this morning of those comments, I took action immediately, the action to lodge a new motion without Gillian Martin's name on it. I think that all parties should resolve to act quickly when issues like this arise. I don't want to get party political, but there are elected representatives of other parties up and down the country who have made vile, homophobic, racist comments without action being taken. Let this be a moment that all of us reflect, that perhaps before we stand in glass houses throwing stones, we should make sure that our houses are all in order. Last night, Alex Cole-Hamilton talks about the size of the Government, a reasonable comment to make, but I am sure that he and members across the chamber will reflect on the fact that the increasing size of the Government reflects the increasing responsibilities of this Parliament, something that all of us have welcomed and also the challenges posed by Brexit, which are less welcome for most of us across this chamber. Alex Cole-Hamilton said that he was confused as to how Gene Freeman had made it to the Government before him. I would gently say that it may be something to do with your choice of party, but if I'd known he was in the transfer market, I may have considered things a bit differently. The nominations that I am making today are of capable, committed and passionate individuals who I believe will do Scotland proud. I congratulate each and every one of them and I commend their nominations to Parliament. Thank you very much. That concludes our debate on the appointment of Scottish ministers and junior Scottish ministers. We'll move now to the questions on the motions. There are two questions, and the first is that motion 13018, in the name of the First Minister, on the appointment of Scottish ministers, be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed, and the First Minister may now invite Her Majesty to approve the appointment of Shirley-Anne Somerville, Michael Russell, Gene Freeman, Hamza Yousaf and Aileen Campbell as Scottish ministers. I offer my congratulations on our appointment. The second question is that motion 13017, in the name of the First Minister, on the appointment of junior ministers, be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed, and the First Minister may now invite Her Majesty to approve the appointment of Ash Denham, Ben Macpherson, Christina McKelvie, Claire Hawke, Graham Day, Ivan McKee, Kate Forbes and Mary Gougeon as junior Scottish ministers. I also offer my congratulations on our appointment. Thank you very much. That concludes business for today. I wish members well and look forward to seeing you all refreshed and reinvigorated after the summer recess. I close this meeting.


I have always been interested in issues of social justice and health disparities. I have a number of family members who've become ill. And so caring for them and sort of co-managing some of their illnesses and watching them from when I was young, I knew that I was going to try and find a way to impact social determinants that tend to disproportionately affect African Americans. My grandmother was born and raised in the South, so we're all Southern African Americans. My grandmother has always been an excellent cook, but it hasn't always been things that the doctor would have prescribed about her diabetes, her blood pressure, those kinds of things. How we cook is so much part of our culture and our familial tradition, and she learned to cook from her grandmother, and it's hard to change habits. She has hypertension. She has diabetes. She has a thyroid problem, which is unrelated. She has been overweight, and her cholesterol is high. I would sometimes go with my grandmother to the doctor in the clinic. And then that's that, and then there's home, you know, and there's not always cross-talk between the two. And, you know, people were not talking about the ways, specifically the ways that she was preparing her food.  Well, we had lots of vegetables, like real vegetables, not just potatoes, but there are things, but in those vegetables, that weren't entirely healthy. She has limited health literacy.  I really want to understand what's going on. Then they would sort of give her a prescription, and off we would go, thank you, doctor. And she would not have any idea about what just happened, because she didn't want to offend the physician. And so all of this misunderstanding that we would then have to try and clarify after the doctor visit, because during that time was sacred doctor time. And so they were really informative to me, growing up, thinking this seems kind of crazy. Hello, Mrs. Robinson. How are you doing today? I'm fine, thank you and you? Well, thanks. How have you been? Well, I've been pretty good. Good, good. Have you noticed anything unusual or different about how you've been feeling? No, everything's about the same.  Well, yes. I've been pretty good. I've been eating all my vegetables, I know you said that was important, and I've been taking all my medications to every day. Okay, that's great. That's really important, Mrs. Robinson. Are you experiencing any fatigue or other symptoms? No, sir, I feel about the same. Well, okay, if everything's the same, let's keep you in your current medication, and you can come back and see me in three months. Okay. Grandma, did you tell him about the sore in your foot? It's just a little sore, and I don't think it should be anything to worry about. She has a sore in her foot, doctor, she says it hurts, and she's tired all the time. You have a sore in your foot? Mm-hmm. Well, have you been wearing proper shoes and checking your feet every day? Yes, I have. Okay, then, let's take a look, okay? Well, it's just a little sore, but it don't even hurt that much, but it's on my right foot. Well, I do see some redness and some signs of infection, but I believe that's a result of your diabetic condition. Now, the infection is still in its early stages, but it's important that we address this because some serious problems could occur as a result. Okay, doctor, I understand. There are two ways to handle the problem with your foot. I can give you some antibiotics, which should clear up the problem, or we can have you see a foot specialist. Mm.  Whatever you think is best, doctor, what's... I've got a referral slip for you to see the foot specialist, call his office, make an appointment, and they should take care of you. Oh, I can't see the foot specialist today. I have to make an appointment? Yes, I'm afraid so. But I have to work all weekend. I don't think I can take off another day so soon. This is Robinson. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we don't have a pediatrist in this office, so you're going to have to make an appointment to call. Okay, I will call as soon as I get home. Great, glad to hear that. You know, it's also time for you flu shot, so I'm going to send the nurse in and she can take care of that for you. Okay, doctor, thank you. Heaven, you have a nice day. You're welcome. This is Robinson. Grandma never made that appointment. Seeing people who I knew were smart, engaged at home and in community, and still not being able to transfer that same sort of skills and confidence when they were communicating with the physician made me decide that I wanted to focus my interest in health disparities, specifically on that patient-doctor communication dynamic. Hi, Mr. Taylor. How are you doing today? I've been okay, but just really fatigued lately. But this is an appointment that I definitely didn't want to miss. I'm glad to see you. It's good to see you. It's been a couple months. Tell me how things are going.  Just got a promotion, so now I'm even busier than ever. Well, congratulations on the new job. Thank you. Thank you. I do want to do well, but I'm worried that my tiredness is going to affect my performance, and I just really want to get on top of this doctor. I totally understand. There are a lot of different reasons why people who have diabetes can be tired. You could have a thyroid problem. You could be a little anemic. You're not sleeping as well because of the new job. It could be that your blood pressure's a little low. Remember at the last visit, we adjusted your blood pressure medication. Let me go ahead and check your blood pressure now. Are you having any side effects? Problems with lightheadedness or dizziness? No. Great. Well, for people who have diabetes, the most common cause of fatigue is that their sugars are not well controlled.  No, doctor. I have missed some of my pills. It's kind of hard to remember to take so many pills at different times of the day. And when I get home, I'm so exhausted that I'm just too tired and I forget to take my sugar at night. So no, I have not been doing the things that I'm supposed to do, doctor. Okay. Well, I appreciate you being honest with me. Your blood pressure's normal, by the way. It's not at all uncommon when people have a lot of new things in their life to have some difficulty keeping track of all their diabetes responsibilities. So I appreciate you letting me know. How's your diet going? Good. I've actually made some progress, I think. I've definitely been eating better since the last appointment I had. The nutritionist that you introduced me to has really taught me a lot. My wife and I, now we cook enough food so now I can take something to work. We're eating healthier. And it's also making it a little bit easier for me at work because I don't have to go out during the busy time at work. Great, great. So you're doing some things better. Having a few steps back in some other areas. Well, it does sound though like your sugars are part of the problems with making you so tired. There are a couple of ways we can try and address to get on top of this. One would be to keep the medications the same, but we just try and figure out ways that you can remember to take them. Another would be to switch your medications all together to a different kind of pill. And then the third would be to try something that's all together different, like insulin. Insulin? Oh. See, my family, they deal with insulin a lot. Honestly, doctor, it's kind of scary to use a needle every day. Right. A lot of people are scared of the needle. But it really, they're just tiny little things and people really, once they start they find there's not that much of a problem. And insulin is probably the most effective way in getting your sugars under control. Well, let's explore some of the options and get some details. Because it's really important to me that I make a decision that's right for me. Sure. I think that's important, too. There are a lot of options that are out there, but us finding the one that works best for you is the one that's going to be best for us. Because what that means is that you're going to be able to stick with it over time. And so we need to find one that's going to work best with your lifestyle that you think you can actually do. So the first choice, again, would be to keep with what you're already doing, but just trying to find a way that you can remember to take them. Because they had worked better for you in the past, but now with a new job you're having problems forgetting. One of the things you could do is buy one of those pill counters that people have sometimes. You put all the pills at the beginning of the week, take it with you to work, leave it in your desk, and then take it home on Fridays. Or you could maybe set your watch so that it goes off twice a day during the day to remind you to take your medications. Do you think that might work for you? Sounds good, but with the promotion and being busier, I'm in the field a lot. I'm in meetings. Sometimes I'm not at my desk when I keep my medication and then I can't really take them discreetly where I am. What's some other options? The next thing is we could change you to a different kind of pill. So maybe there's a new kind of pill that is once a day. So you could take that and not have to worry about being at work and remembering to take them to your job, but it does have a few side effects. A lot of people who take this medication have some complaints initially of some loose stool or some abdominal discomfort. So it's something you should be aware of. Yeah, I already have irritable bowel problems. I'm worried that the side effects from that may be a little bit too much for me. And again, I'm in the field a lot, so I'm not really sure if I can get to a bathroom. I'm not sure if that will work well for me. What are some other options? What about insulin? Okay, so the insulin is something you could take just once a day and it really mimics what your body naturally does when it makes its own insulin. So it's a really nice alternative. It's the best way of keeping your sugars under control and it's a lot easier to give than it used to be. You would have to do two things. One, learn how to give yourself the injection, something you don't know how to do now, and two, you'd still have to make sure that you check your sugars at least once a day. One tiny shot at home. And I could take my sugars at lunch. It worked. Good idea. And like I said, my family already have history of diabetes and I'm sure they helped me with taking this shot. And it's important that I make the right decision, Doc. So if insulin is going to do that, then let's do it. Okay. I'm really glad to hear that. I think insulin probably is the best choice for you. Particularly long-term. Not only will it make you feel less tired, which is what brought you in today, but it also helps prevent complications from diabetes. So having good sugar control means you're less likely to go blind, less likely to have to be on dialysis, less likely to have a heart attack, all those things that we're really trying to avoid. So I think it's a good choice for you. And I do understand you're concerned about the needles. That's not at all a new problem or a concern that people have.  And if you get home or forget anything, you can always just give me a call. You know what? I'm excited. I'm ready. With all the information you've given me and, of course, with my family helping me out, I think I can do this. And if it's going to stop me from being so tired and help me out, then I'm definitely here. Wonderful. I'm so glad you came in. Thank you, Doctor. Good to see you. I'll see you back in a month. All right, bye. We don't go shopping and then the sales clerk says, here's your address. You go home when you take it and think this doesn't fit. Well, I guess this is what I have.  We don't do that in any other aspect of our life. But when it comes to coming to the physician, we lose a lot of our autonomy and sense of self-efficacy, our sense of confidence in being able to make intelligent decisions and choices about how things may affect our life. I tell people that my job is to be their coach, their informant.  And so I give them advice. I give them all the information. I can help make recommendations. But this is a choice that we have to make together. I'm the expert in what I know. You're the expert in what you know. Together, we can make a decision that's best for you. Shared decision-making is really just a really basic concept. It's where patients and physicians come together to share in the decision-making process about a treatment for that patient. So ordinarily, the physician makes most of the decisions about what's going to happen for the patients. This concept is that the patients would also be actively involved and through all phases of the clinical encounter. So they would share in the discussion about symptoms. They would share in the discussion about pros and cons of all the treatment options. And ideally, they would share in the actual decision about what's going to happen when they leave the room. Once people really know all the facts, then they can incorporate those and say, okay, this one is really best for me. But without that information, it's impossible for patients to feel like they can make an accurate decision. And it really is true. If you want open heart surgery versus a balloon angioplasty, if you don't really understand what those even mean, so really getting the information on the table from both parties and then sort of mixing it all up and then everyone at the end of the day saying, okay, this is what's going to work. This is like a great thing to do, but it's also important because people do better. People have better control of their diabetes. Their blood pressure is better controlled. They're less likely to be hospitalized. They feel better. They're more likely to get their preventive care. All of these things that are really tangible, hard health outcomes can be traced back to this kind of communication between doctors and patients. Come prepared. So have a good sense of the things that you want to discuss and all of the symptoms that you're having sort of have them down in advance. I would say ask good questions so that you make sure that you're getting all the information so you can make those decisions. And I would be very clear with your provider that you're interested in participating and making those choices. The three D's that we want to remember when we go into the doctor's office are discuss, debate, and decide. You want to discuss all the symptoms. You want to debate, have a friendly conversation with your doctor about all the options, and then decide on the treatment that is best for you.