We are here to work on our signature for June and I will be honest with you, at the time of filming this, I'm not done with May yet, it is actually the beginning of May, I'm filming this quite a bit ahead because I'm getting ready yet again to do more construction at my house in case you didn't know yet. So I don't know how loud, noisy, or obnoxious it's going to be or how long for sure it's going to take. So I thought I would get these videos done ahead of time if I could. I will probably be adding some videos either to YouTube with the hashtag MyYear2017 or directly to the Facebook group that showed flips of my progress not only for May but for June. So if you're not a member of the Facebook group and you'd like to be or my other Facebook group or you'd like to shop in my Etsy shop and support my channel or send me Happy Mail or send me an email, any of that, all that stuff is in the description so check it out, okay? This is the setup video for MyYear2017 over on Facebook. This is my insert for June that's going to go in my journal. Right now, this is April and May and look how fat it is. I keep thinking I can get three months in here at a time but yeah, that's just not happening. So here is June, our prompt from June is growth, which is really interesting prompt, yes? I love the idea of this prompt. The first thing we're going to do is we are going to find a section to tip in our book club list and find something to tip it in on. I don't know, I don't know. I've got some random bits and pieces and bits and bobs and different things, scraps of paper, let me see what I can find that might work, okay? So these are last month I did a live Wednesday broadcast where we did watercoloring on the jelly plate and so these are some of the prints that we did. I'm thinking to cut one of these up and stick it in there, which I think is a great idea. I kind of like this one because I don't know what about that says growth to me, either that one or this one. I kind of like this one, let's do that one. So obviously this is too big. So we need to cut this because that's way too big. Narrowly I would just give it a good ol' whack with the scissors, but I think that it's probably prudent for me not to do that.  This is a free doodle download that's here in the My Year 2017 Facebook group. If you're not on Facebook, then why aren't you and why aren't you in the group? You don't have to do anything else on Facebook, just be part of the Facebook group. Anyway, for those of you that are, you can get this free, it's in the files. There's a number of different ones. I always use the one that says book list, but there's a number of different ones and you could use them for anything. You could use them for grocery shopping lists or your monthly to-do list or really anything. I use some tape runner. I'm going to stick that on the back of this and I'm going to put it a little bit to the right, or at least I'm going to try to because we're going to tip this in. So let's get some tape on there. This is decorative masking tape. Works great for tip-ins because you don't have to use glue. You don't have to worry about it not being sticky enough. Some of the washi tapes, which I use occasionally, you've seen me use them, are great and they're pretty and all, but some of them aren't super sticky. So you have to have glue underneath and on top of them sometimes. The masking tape is just a little easier. When I'm feeling lazy, I like the masking tape. So that works. I like that. Alright, so I have some random bits and pieces here. This is an old watercolor sample from a live broadcast, I think. I think it was alcohol markers and alcohol. I don't know. This is from an old live broadcast, though, that I know for sure. So I'm going to actually use it. It's just a random sample that I never throw these things away because I could maybe use it for something. So I'm going to stick it right there. And this month is all about growth and it kind of is an extension of last month's spring theme. But this month you could use the similar symbols to last month to symbolize growth in a new beginning and a new start, whether it's personal growth or artistic growth or something else in your life that you're striving to achieve. And I also have some bumblebees on here. To me, those also symbolize growth.  And use this one, too, in here somewhere. Let's find a spot for it. I think I want to use it back here somewhere. I don't want to put too much because as the month goes along, as you all know by now, I collect bits and pieces and I use them in my journals and it starts to get filled up with different things and events in my life, which I love. And this is just Elmer's Extreme Glue. Okay, what else do we have here? I don't know why I like this weird little circle thing, but I do. Again, this is just some random scrap. I think this is from when we were doing the crayon monoprints, as was this one. So let's cut both of these out. You don't have to save all these little bitty scraps, but this just goes to show that you can use anything, anything to decorate your journal. It doesn't have to be expensive stuff that's from the store or fancy stuff.  I think I like this blue one. The Bible Gel High Gliders I use a lot. You can pick them up, of course, online at Amazon. You can probably also find them if you have a local religious stores that sells Bibles and journaling Bibles and the like. You probably can get them there. This is just titanium white acrylic paint. This isn't even anything expensive. It's just very inexpensive paint.  Have fun with it. Do some decorating. Think about a new start and growth in your personal life maybe or in your expression of art or whatever the word growth means to you. And work on creating something that will allow you to express that this month. I'm really impatient. I don't really want to wait for stuff to dry. I hate waiting for things to dry. So go out and have some fun with it. Find some bits of pieces and start working on your pages for the month. And I will be back with the next video. I hope that you are having a great day and a great week. Don't forget to check out the video's description and like, share, and subscribe if you're not part of the My Year 2017 Facebook group but you'd like to join. Again, the link is in the description and the most important thing, go out and have a great day everybody. Do something nice for yourself because you deserve it and I'll see you later. Bye guys.


Hi, good morning and welcome to today's products and focus. So what we're looking at is most global equity markets are managing to take that Little bit higher this morning if only just as we had a late dip and crude oil prices that managed to recover quite strongly So a little bit of Unsuredness and a lot of the markets but looking at the US 30 you can just see the the indecision where we were a little bit higher Then lower so far this morning. We're just about eating out tiny little gains We are turning above both moving averages with the Matty histogram slowly moving down there on the US 30 You do have the slow to cast again overbought territory, but not yet crossing that 80% level So there could be just a little bit of an extra gas left in the tank to get close to 17 0 34 But just looking at the tips these candles here There is a little bit of selling interest, but we'll see that pans out later on in today's session Looking at the UK 100 that late sell-off and crude oil prices pushed the UK 100 down a little bit lower Though we were firmly off the session lows by the end of the session Looking at today's candle is a little bit great It's going from green into red ever so slightly again But above both moving averages the other technicals are relatively neutral apart from the slow to cast egg That is trading up just above the 8% level not yet giving that signal to sell and we are in the middle of two ranges so 6300 is potential resistance and 6073 is potential support moving down Japan 2 to 5 is moving a little bit more into bullish Territory right now three decent candles getting close to the 17178 We are looking at that 55 period SMA as providing potential resistance as well So that could be quite a good point there for for some traders to look at as a strategic level Other technical indicators relatively neutral again indicating there could be a little bit extra room from maneuver here Then moving on to dollar yen and dollar yen had a volatile session was quite positive yesterday getting up close to 114 then to sell off later on as equity markets We're on the back foot and people started buying the yen as a hedge And then so far then to get today's in the dollar gain a little bit extra momentum ADP private pearls came out slightly better than expected at 214 versus 190 And that's had a little bit extra strength to USD as well then moving on to Corral West, Texas This was where it's a little bit negative this morning if only just but a great a great end to the session yesterday Very volatile up then down more oil ministers kind of kind of lining up there to to be a bit more bullish on On the floor of West Texas, and we still have this double bottom here to Add a little bit of technical momentum $35 is the next potential resistance. We're a little bit away from there right now But this is the highest that we've been an all of February a high's closed We've had an all of February So month on high so the question is can we get to $35 fingers crossed right? Let's move on to gold now And gold has been quite volatile. You can see that we probably if we draw our trend lines on here We have had a symmetrical triangle formation Arguably you can still say that we have that right now And we have had the breakout depending on when you look to draw this You could say that we are still within a symmetrical triangle formation right now We want to break here to move higher back up towards 1300 otherwise a break lower You could be having potential support at 1205 And that's not that great a level to be honest But that is where you could possibly look at and then finishing up with the with your dollar and GBP USD So Euro dollar at one spot zero eight still seems to be a strategic Support level to be aware of these long-legged candles that you had yes on Tuesday and again yesterday does kind of highlight that there is buying interest at this point We are trading below both moving averages the MACD cross the zero line The RSI and slow stochastic are just heading into oversold territory But there's not yet a signal yet to buy but just where we are right here really depends the ECB is going to act Or not there's more more talk from local governors about Cut into negative interest rates the question is that is that going to happen will the market be disappointed or not? The euros obviously been feeling the pain versus the US dollar last number of sessions We're back to where we were at the start of the year If the if you don't act the euro will get shot in the arm if they do act Obviously one spot zero eight is the last line of defense before we get down to one spot zero five And then finishing up there with GBP USD and the study managed to get a decent move yesterday Really strong candle one of the strongest candles we've seen for a little while Well, we're quite far away from one spot 42 if I just get my drawing tool on here and pick this recent low We are just on the cusp one spot forty seventy three So this could be kind of interesting the short term almost got a crossover in that MACD And we've got a bullish signal on the slow stochastic potential bullish signal on there as well In regards to the economic data so far today, we've got more PMI data from the euro zone you've got employment claims from the US factory orders and PMI ISM numbers from the US and then finishing up with Friday You've got employment data non-farm perils make sure you don't forget about that one That's gonna be very very important going forward and that gives you a bit of an idea of what to expect Well, that's it for me guys very good luck with your trading and join me again tomorrow to find out what happened next Thank you very much and goodbye


You need a financial advisor with the freedom to focus on your specific needs. Whatever your goals, Reid Potter can create a game plan tailored to you. Call Reid at 432-0777 at Pikeville, Kentucky to learn more. The City of Weizberg will be holding their pride cleanup on Saturday, April 22nd. We chose April 22nd. That is Earth Day and that's going to be our cleanup day. We want people to volunteer and help us improve the look of our city. And we'd love to have people come out and volunteer and help be the solution to our problem here. Since the devastating flooding of 2022, the city has made great strides in getting back on its feet. However, much work still needs to be done to clean up leftover debris from the flood. After the devastating floods, you know, a lot of people have cleaned up, but there's some that just have not been touched yet. And we know that we're waiting for the big debris, the flood debris to be picked up. And we keep hearing that, yes, that's coming. And I know it's unsightly, but we're just asking that people come and help us and just help do all they can. The cleanup will begin at 10 a.m. at Weizberg City Hall. To sign up to volunteer, you can call Lee Adams at<PHONE_NUMBER>. Individuals, families, schools, church groups, and businesses are all welcome. For Mountain Top News, I'm Kelcie Dean.


Many of us are frustrated by the current political system. It can feel as if our vote does not have any influence at all, and that today's EU is more a Europe of lobbyists than a Europe of citizens. And this feeling is, unfortunately, not entirely wrong. Two in three of the lobbyists in Brussels work on behalf of business interests, so those lobbying on behalf of trade unions or non-governmental organisations are dramatically underrepresented. As a consequence, powerful business interests have more access to and influence over EU decision-makers than those working, for instance, on environmental issues or human rights issues. And this can be really dangerous for our democracy. Without transparency, there is no democracy. And without the rule of law, we cannot guarantee that democracy will be here to stay. So when it comes to power and money, transparency should be the rule, not the exception. Here are the main steps we can take as voters to rebalance the system on the EU level and create a transparent union that serves the interest of the people. We have to hold our politicians accountable. Too often, it seems that our elected EU representatives do whatever they want once elected, quickly forgetting us, their own programmes and pre-election promises. But a political mandate is, of course, not a blank check for the entire five-year term. In a real democracy, we as citizens have the right to know what is going on. Many of the biggest scandals of corruption and conflicts of interests were uncovered by whistleblowers or journalists who play a crucial role in speaking truth to power and thereby holding public officials accountable. But those people are often under enormous threat or even killed. Wouldn't it be good if instead we had a minimum standard of protection for whistleblowers across the EU? On top of that, we have to all stand up for the freedom of the media and support high-quality investigative journalism. We have to demand full transparency. We should be able to monitor what elected representatives on the EU level do in-between elections. Who is lobbying who? For which purpose and with what resources? For example, it should be obligatory for all members of the European Parliament to publish who they meet and who influence them when working on legislation. With access to power comes great temptation and not everyone can resist it. But shouldn't it be normal to punish those who abuse public office for their own private gain? That's why we want a special independent ethics authority to control abuses of power. We also need access to information on how public money is spent and how much money is earned by politicians through other jobs or engagements that might cause a conflict of interest with their work as policymakers. We must hold our governments accountable, also in Brussels. Many national governments want to escape negative public opinion and use the EU, namely Brussels, as a scapegoat for their own political choices. It is therefore about time that we as citizens also get full insight on what the council, where the member states representatives decide on legislation, is doing. The positions defended by our government representatives should be made public so that all of us, as well as the media, can know what position our politicians are taking in our name at the EU level. Some companies nowadays are even bigger than the GDP of some EU countries which is why we need to transform our system into a transparent union with honest politicians who can defend the wider public interest instead of the narrow private interests of a handful of corporate elites. We can achieve this if all of us, transparency NGOs, the media and policymakers, work together at the EU level.


urpose. We have jam but I just need someone with information to relay him to your text. It is important for me to have to understand who you want to tell the Conservatives. The Promised��s Secretary for Tomascular is so pleased that the answer to this question The independence of the Scottish Medicines Consortium decisions on individual drugs as well established in line with what was recommended when the SMC adopted its new approach to orphan, ultra orphan and end-of-life drugs. There will be a formal review of the new SMC approach in 2015-16. The Scottish Government is currently working with the SMC in the remit of that review. I am very grateful to the cabinet secretary for that response. As she knows, when I first became involved in this issue, those who made the case for the reimbursement of Vimism were very complementary about the SMC process and rather less so about the process south of the border through NICE. As time has gone on, however, that situation reversed. It is quite clear that, while the NICE process was highly inclusive in nature, including round-table discussions with clinicians, patients and families, the Scottish process was the very opposite. In drawing up the remit for the review in 2015-16, will the cabinet secretary ensure that the process becomes more inclusive so that those most affected are made to feel that they are a valued part of the process, rather than feel that they are outside the process? I say to Alex Ferguson that the consultation will be wide with stakeholders as part of that review. I encourage him to submit his view and the case that he has cited to the SMC as part of that review. We will certainly look at the process and the decision-making process and the issue of inclusivity. I know that he cites NICE as being an example of an inclusive process, but there are a lot of criticisms of the NICE process as well. I think that the new process is better than what we had before, but we always said that we would review the new process within the first year of operation. That is what we are going to do. I will certainly make sure that the issue of inclusivity that the member raises is part of that review, and we will discuss that with the SMC. To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it has had with NHS Lanarkshire since its interim service model for out-of-hours GP services was implemented in 1 July 2015. Discussions with all NHS boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, are on-going as part of the national review of primary care out-of-hours services being led by Professor Lewis Ritchie, which will be reporting its findings and recommendations in the autumn. I ask the cabinet secretary that, in any discussion and consideration, she would recognise that East Kilbride is the largest population centre in Lanarkshire, yet it has been without an out-of-hours GP service since NHS Lanarkshire interim measure was implemented. Does she recognise that this is an anomalous situation that must surely be rectified in any long-term solution? I certainly expect NHS Lanarkshire to keep the interim service under review. Once we have the recommendations from Professor Lewis Ritchie, I expect him to look at those recommendations and to look at whether the interim service is in line with those recommendations. They have said publicly that they will undertake a full review with public involvement within six months, and that will, of course, take account of those recommendations, which will be coming soon. Of course, I will consider NHS Lanarkshire's longer-term plans in the light of all of that. We now have further evidence that NHS Lanarkshire's so-called interim GP service out-of-hours, out-of-hospital and running out-of-GPs is not working. Despite the reduction in centres from five to two over a recent three-month period, one in nine sessions were unfilled. There is often just one GP out-of-hours centre for the whole of Lanarkshire. Would the cabinet secretary agree that this is not the service that the people of Lanarkshire deserve and have the right to expect, as promised by the chief executive? Can she tell me how much longer she will tolerate this worsening position? I have already said in answer to Linda Fabiani that the recommendations of the richer review are fundamental to not just the way that Lanarkshire operates and organises its out-of-hours services but, indeed, any other health board. John Pendlin talked about the interim model and, of course, the reason why Lanarkshire moved to the interim model is that they were saying very clearly that, because of patient safety concerns, they could not staff the rota. They are telling me now that they are more able to staff the rotas than they were previously and that the service is safe. That is something that John Pendlin should take on board. However, as I have said, I would absolutely expect that, going forward, NHS Lanarkshire's out-of-hours services will be in line with the recommendations coming out of the national review. If NHS Lanarkshire wants to move to any permanent change in the out-of-hours services, that is an issue that would come to the Scottish Government. The important thing here is that we send a message out to the people of Lanarkshire that their services are safe. I am sure that something that John Pendlin would want to do. Thank you very much. The minister might be aware of the reports of the weekend that NHS Lanarkshire is at risk of losing its training status for junior doctors, vital, obviously, for out-of-hours services. I would just like to know what the minister's view is on those worrying reports. Of course, I am very aware of the issue of the training status for junior doctors. I have been having on-going discussions as of my officials with NHS Lanarkshire about the matters. NHS Lanarkshire is very clear about the improvements that it has to put in place in order to resolve those issues. I am very clear that that is what it will have to do, and I will keep a very close eye on those matters. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Grampian to help recruit and retain staff. NHS Grampian, along with all NHS boards, is required to have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service and ensure high-quality patient care. The Scottish Government has increased NHS Grampian's resource budget by 6.7 per cent to over £830 million for 2015-16. That is above inflation, and the largest increase of any mainland board having previously increased by 4.6 per cent in 2014-15. The Scottish Government works closely with all boards to support their staff recruitment efforts. Another cabinet secretary is aware of the particular concern in the north-east regarding GP recruitment with the closure of the remand medical practice in Aberdeen and other practices being affected by staff recruitment issues. That is an issue that I have raised with the cabinet secretary before. Can she provide any further details today on what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle the issue, given that patients are already being affected and some 20 per cent of north-east GP's are due to retire next year? Of course, we have taken a very close interest in the issue of remand and other practices in Aberdeen and indeed in the north-east. I can say to Richard Baker that the board NHS Grampian is working very closely to ensure continuity of service for those patients, but in the medium to longer term, what is required are new ways of working in primary care. That is why we are discussing with the Royal College of General Practitioners, with the BMA and others about very radically different models of primary care, and that the new GP contract from 2017 should facilitate those new models of care. In fact, there are a number of practices in Aberdeen that are very much trailblazing for the idea of a federated structure of GP surgeries, instead of having small, in some cases single handed practices that they would come together into a cluster to be able to provide a greater range of services to their patients. I am very happy to keep Richard Baker appraised of progress on that matter. In relation to the Birmingham Medical Group, with the cabinet secretary, join me in welcoming the launch of the new dice medical practice, which has been launched by the Scottsden medical group and perhaps conforms to the approach of the federated structure that she has announced, which will ensure continuity for those patients of the Birmingham practice who were affected as a result of its withdrawal of general medical services. Cabinet secretary, I very much welcome the new dice medical practice and indeed the new federated structure. I think that the other benefit from a federated structure is not just the resilience that it brings to general practice and primary care within that area, but it also opens up opportunities for specialist services to be delivered to that patient population because of the range of experience and skills within that federated structure. That is very much something that we believe has wider application across Scotland and indeed is informing our discussions with the profession as we go forward. To ask the Scottish Government whether robotic radical prostatectomy is available from the NHS. Maureen Watt. I am pleased to confirm that, two months earlier than planned, robot assisted surgery for prostate cancer is now available in NHS Scotland. The first robot has been located in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and has been purchased with the help of a £1 million capital contribution from the Scottish Government, added to the magnificent fundraising raising efforts of the people of the northeast through the UCAN charity. Jackie Baillie. Can I thank the minister for that response? She will be aware of course that the outcomes for this type of robotic surgery are vastly improved and recovery times are much quicker. What she will not be aware of is that I have three constituents who had to travel to Leipzig and pay for the treatment themselves because Greater Glasgow and Clyde refused to fund the procedure. One of them, a matter of a mere few weeks ago. Given that treatment was available at the new Queen Elizabeth hospital and should have been offered to my constituent, will she ensure that the money is refunded to him and will she end the postcode lottery of care? Maureen Watt. I am happy to discuss the particular matter that Jackie Baillie raises with the chamber, obviously. She will be pleased to know that the west of Scotland has confirmed that this week it purchased a robot to help to deliver minimal invasive radical prostitumia. An implementation date for that has yet to be confirmed. However, we expect that that will be agreed for following equipment installation and the completion of staff training. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the court of session's recent decision not to overturn NHS Lothian's withdrawal of prescriptive homeopathic medicine to a Midlothian resident. Maureen Watt. The decision was one of the court of session to take and is not a matter for the Scottish Government. I thank the minister for that response. While the scientific benefits of homeopathy are generally unproven, it is clear that, even as a placebo, many people find it of great help. Would the minister outline some of the ways that homeopathy can be supported on the NHS? The member will know that it is, of course, for individual NHS boards to decide what complementary and alternative therapies are made available based on the needs of the resident population and in line with national guidance. We expect boards to ensure that people receive the appropriate clinical care that meets the totality of their needs and that this care is person-centred, safe and effective. Question 6, Patricia Ferguson. To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to so-called deep-end GP practices in the most socioeconomically deprived populations. There is recognition of the additional needs of patients in areas of deprivation and the calculation of Scottish Government funding to GPs for the provision of core services. This is shown in the waiting given to reflect deprivation as a marker for increased morbidity for patients and increased workload for practices, covering the essential element of general medical services. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It has long been recognised that patients who attend such practices often suffer from a range of illnesses, as the cabinet secretary has indicated, and often they contribute to premature death. Is she aware that such patients are also likely to suffer some 20 years more poor health than those in more affluent areas? Is it not time that the funding formula for GP practices properly recognised this concern and the other challenges facing the deep-end practices and supported those GPs whose patients suffer most from health inequality, such as the Balmor surgery in Postal Park in my area? I am certainly very well aware of the issues that Patricia Ferguson raises. I have a lot of sympathy for the point that she makes. I think that there is an opportunity, as we continue to discuss what the new contract, the first Scottish-only contract, from 2017 onwards will look like and how it will facilitate new models of care. Within that, I think that we have to have a very sharp focus on tackling health inequalities. I am very happy if Patricia Ferguson wants to continue that dialogue over that issue, but she is very much in line with my own thinking as we take those discussions forward. I recently met the GPs at the Balmor practice in Postal Park in a deep-end practice, and they have made a unique situation. They have made an evidence-led and powerful case for more resources from Greater Glasgow and Clyde health boards. I am in correspondence with them, and I have also written to the cabinet secretary on that. I ask the cabinet secretary whether she would give consideration to my suggestion to Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board that the particular stresses that Balmor surgery will experience over the winter period need to be mitigated and perhaps the health board could use some winter resilience monies that it will have in order to get them through that period to the spring, and perhaps additional resource allocation could be considered, given their unique and powerful case that they have made to Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board. I recognise Bob Doris' interest in that matter, and I have issued a reply to him today. Of course, we all want to make sure that Balmor practice is able to continue with its important work in an area of deprivation. Obviously, the Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been discussing with the practice how to provide that support, and that has led to some short-term support that the board has been able to provide. On what happens after that, it is important that the board continue to discuss with Balmor how they take the practice forward. We need to put that practice on to a sustainable footing going forward. I would certainly encourage Bob Doris to continue to liaise with Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and I am very happy to keep him informed of any discussions and to make sure that the board is aware of his and other member's representations on the issue. To ask the Scottish Government whether it is experiencing difficulties in recruiting for the four-year GP training programme. It is NHS education for Scotland working with the GP national recruitment office, which oversees arrangements for selection and recruitment into three or four-year GP training programmes. In 2015, national recruitment 305 GP speciality training posts were advertised in Scotland with 237 filled, resulting in a fill rate of 78 per cent. Of the 305 posts, 172 were for the four-year programme. We are continuing to work with health boards and the medical profession to make general practice a more attractive career option. That includes some redesign of the medical training curricular and by taking forward recommendations from the shape of training review to provide GPs with enhanced skills as part of their training. I thank the minister for her reply. I am not entirely sure whether, from what she says, that she recognises the conclusions of, for example, GPs in my own area, including Drine McCall, that what is currently a problem could in five years become a real crisis. Can I ask her to elaborate on the steps that she is taking to make general practice a more successful, a more attractive long-term career option, and in particular whether she will reverse the funding cuts that the Government has made to general practice? You can be assured that this issue is a very, very high priority for me and the Scottish Government going forward. However, there are a number of issues that are all interrelated. The first is that, within medical schools themselves, general practice is often not seen as the most attractive specialty to go into. There are a range of reasons for that, but we have to change that perception and the way that medical students are encouraged or not encouraged to go into general practice. That is one thing. We then need to make the training of GPs more attractive. Of course, some of the enhanced training that we are looking at at the moment is about bridging the gap between general practice and hospital-based practice and whether there are opportunities for some differing models that are blurring more of the boundaries between primary and secondary care. Then there is the whole requirement to develop and deliver new models of primary care based around multidisciplinary teams, which will allow the general practitioner to work to the top of their skill level and use their clinical skill training, while other health professionals will be able to do some of the other work that GPs can find frustrating and time-consuming. I am happy to write to Ken Mackintosh on that with further details of all of that. I ask the Scottish Government when it last met the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Ministers and Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport will be aware of correspondence that has been sent regarding the issue of smoking in hospital grounds, seizing from 1 October, which will have an impact on Rhavenskrieg Hospital in Greenock, which provides continuing care in-patient services for adult and elderly psychiatric patients, along with rehabilitation and alcohol addiction in-patient services. I would be grateful to know of what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport has actually had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to consider introducing contingency measures to assist staff with the smoking ban when it comes into force. How will patients who have limited mobility be able to leave the grounds to smoke? Are there any hospitals in Scotland that have been given an exemption from that policy? I can confirm to Stuart McMillan that a letter will be on its way shortly in response to the issues that he raised.  In line with the view of the mental welfare commissioner, the Scottish Government recognises that people with mental ill health face some of the greatest health inequalities. As such, we support action by boards to protect the health of this population group. Where boards have taken the decision to create no smoking outdoor areas, I would expect them to ensure that patients have swift access to smoking cessation support. Of course, we are providing £10 million a year to boards for tobacco control activity, including the provision of specialist cessation services. During the cabinet secretary's discussions with the chief executive of the NHS Glasgow Clyde, did she have time to discuss the staggering £44 million maintenance bag lock that exists in the Clyde Royal hospital, which was reported in 2013, almost double the figure that was reported in 2011? As I understand it, rather than the figure being diminished, it is increasing, placing a huge question mark on the future of our local hospital. Can the cabinet secretary give assurances that this issue will be tackled, addressed urgently, to ensure that there is a viable future of our Inverclyde Royal hospital? Inverclyde Royal hospital does have a viable future, so I can confirm and reassure Duncan MacNeill on that. In terms of bag lock maintenance, we would expect all boards to have in their capital plans going forward a clear plan, particularly for that essential bag lock maintenance to be taken forward. Those are issues that we will continue to discuss with boards, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to receive the interim conclusions of the independent review into polypropylene mesh implants and what progress the expert group has made in developing pathways of care for women experiencing complications. The Scottish Government expects the independent review of transvaginal mesh implants to publish its interim report at the end of this month, at the beginning of October. The expert group suspended its activities during the period of the independent review's main work programme and reconvened at the end of August. The new pathways of care for women experiencing complications can now be progressed and evidence gathered by the independent review will inform the configuration of the service. I'm grateful to the cabinet secretary for her reply and for her continued focus on the issue. I know that she will now be giving evidence to the petitions committee on October 6. I look forward to engaging with her then on the detail of the report. Although can she confirm that there is not one surgeon on the group who is not a proponent of polypropylene mesh and whether that may yet prove to be a cause for concern, I wonder if she can update us positively on the helpline that was launched on August 3. Can I say that the expert group and the make-up of the expert group and the work that the expert group has undertaken should be respected and should give us confidence that the women that I have spoken to directly affected by the issue have been very supportive of the work of the expert group. I think that we need to enable it and leave it to do its work and draw its work to its conclusions. On the helpline, I will write to Jackson Carlaw with an update on the use of the helpline. The helpline was very well received by the women concerned. I think that it is input into the development of the helpline and indeed the recruitment to the helpline has been very valuable indeed. I would just want to put on record again my thanks to the women concerned. They certainly have had a terrible experience and have been very badly affected by the helpline, but their intentions and support to help other women affected has been something that deserves all of our praise. I say that we are not progressing very far today. I am afraid that questions and answers will need to be briefed. A brief supplementary from Rhoda Grant, please. Can I ask what progress is being made to reduce the use of the helpline and if any women receive it? Can she guarantee that they are being fully appraised of the risks involved? Yes. Most health boards, as I have said before, have suspended mesh implant procedures for stress, urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Women affected in health boards are eagerly awaiting the findings of this review and, as I am, also. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the shortage of GPs. Under this Government, the number of GPs employed in Scotland has risen by 7 per cent to 5,000, the highest ever on record. We have also increased investment in primary medical services by over £88 million, and there are, of course, more GPs per head of population in Scotland than in England. However, I recognise that demand is also increasing, which is why I recently announced that, over the next three years, an additional £60 million will be invested to address immediate workload and recruitment issues. For that answer, I welcome the investment in general practice. The reason for the shortage of GPs is complex and, of course, not confined to Scotland. However, I have been told by insiders in the NHS that the high rates being paid to locum doctors, including GPs, can exacerbate the shortage as some doctors choose to pull out of the NHS and return part-time as locums. Given that trend, will the Scottish Government support health boards that choose to cap the rates paid to locums? John McAlpine raises an important point. Our long-standing agency locum framework contract already caps the rate at which locums can be paid to the national NHS rates. The doctors and dentists' terms and conditions of service again ensure a cap rate for locum staff who are engaged through local supplementary staffing services such as the medical staff bank. NHS boards have been advised to use only agencies that are on the nationally agreed contract and to ensure that any local locums are paid at the contractual rates. I welcome the recent statements in support of federated practice of clusters proposed by the RCGP eight years ago, but will the minister now examine Labour's consultation paper fit for the future, which I have sent to her and to Dr Maureen Watt? It is based on GP responses. Will she or the cabinet secretary come to the chamber with a statement on the developing crisis and GP recruitment and retention? In the meantime, will she ensure that advanced nurse practitioners where they are being deployed instead of or alongside GPs are fully qualified? To be fair to Richard Simpson, at least he is trying to develop some labour health policy. I have looked at his paper. What I can tell him is three things. One is that every single element of his paper is either already happening or has already been under active consideration. There is nothing in his paper that we were not already looking to do or planning to do, but I thank him anyway for his thoughts on the matter. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress in filling GP vacancies across North East Scotland. Senior managers and GP clinical leads within Aberdeen health and social care partnership are working closely with practices offering support and assistance where required with advertising and recruitment. The minister will know that the acute shortage of GPs is now impacting daily and directly on local communities across the North East, with surgeries at game, Ray Comenston and Brimond, particularly affected. Thousands of patients are being displaced to other already busy practices in what I must say a fairly ad hoc way. What patient safety at risk assessments does the cabinet secretary expect health boards to carry out in such circumstances? What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that those patients with long-term and complex conditions do not experience any potentially critical disruption to their medical care? There are two practices in the North East under what are described as special measures, which is that the board is stepping in to support one as Brimond and the other as Gameray. In the case of Gameray, it was due to a GP being injured and therefore on sick leave, so some of those things are difficult to predict. Obviously, the board has taken swift action, and what we can guarantee is patient continuity and making sure that, either through other practices taking on those patients or, indeed, a salaried service is required, the boards were expected to respond very rapidly to those cases, whether it is in Aberdeenshire or anywhere else in Scotland. I thank the cabinet secretary for attending a recent meeting, a constructive meeting, with GPs, the health board and colleagues. At that meeting, it was said that UK pension changes were having an effect, and GPs were retiring early. Will the cabinet secretary please comment on that, and is that a real problem? Certainly, that issue has been raised by the organisations representing general practitioners that have facilitated a more rapid retirement in some cases. That is not the only issue that we have as a backdrop to some of the challenges with GPs on primary care, but it is an issue. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting primary care in Aberdeen. The Scottish Government is continuing to support NHS boards in this work through investments and initiatives set up to test its scale new ways of working in primary care. Within Aberdeen, we supported the development of a cluster model as a basis for improving patient care. That involves six practices across three CHPs, with practices in Aberdeen, Aberdeinshire and Murray, with a combined patient population of around 60,000 working together to ensure a fully integrated approach to patient care. The cabinet secretary may be aware that part of the work being done to modernise primary care in Aberdeen is being carried out at the Dainston Medical Practice in my constituency. Given the announcements by the First Minister and the programme for government about the Scottish Government's looks to remodel primary care, how will that work feed into that national agenda? Dainston Medical Practice is one of six practices in NHS Grampian taking part in this work, which is looking at how we can develop a new model of delivery in primary care to address current and future patient demand. We are, as a Government, certainly looking forward to hearing more about the findings from the work. The lessons learned will play an important part in informing the work on the future delivery of primary care. What is its position on the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland's reported concerns regarding the capacity of the environmental health workforce in local authorities? The environmental health staff employed by local authorities contributes significantly to environmental and public health in Scotland. I know how important it is that we have an effective and experienced workforce. Ministers have met the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland in the past to discuss those matters, and I would be happy to do so again to understand the work that has been undertaken in recent years to address some of the challenges. I thank the minister for that answer. In 2009, Minister, there were 556 environmental health officers and 105.6 food safety officers employed by local authorities in Scotland. By September 2014, that had dropped to 470.74 EHOs and 77.6 FSOs, a reduction of 85.26 EHOs and 28 FSOs. Given the vital front-line role that EHOs and FSOs do in safeguarding Scotland's public health and the very important education on the therefore preventative role that they carry out with food producers in Scotland, does the minister share my concerns about the threat posed to public health by the drop in the number of EHOs employed by local authorities? Can the minister tell me what the Scottish Government can do to ensure that we have enough EHOs and FSOs in Scotland to safeguard our excellent public health standards? The figures described certainly sure decline in numbers. In 2010, the then Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison, received a report of a short-life working group that ministers established to look at those issues. That group made a number of recommendations and the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland agreed to take forward some work, in particular on the training and education of environmental health staff and on the establishment of a Scottish environmental health advisory group to strengthen local environmental health. I intend to meet that group to understand what work they have been doing in recent years, but again I would be happy to meet REHIS and the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland to explore what more can be done to support and promote environmental health provision. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to alleviate the problems in recruiting GPs across the country. Scotland continues to have that most GPs per head of population spend the second highest per head in the UK on primary care. However, we recognise that increasing attendances and recruitment challenges are putting additional pressure on GPs, and that is why last month I announced an additional £60 million to be invested in primary care over the next three years. Jenny Marra A drop in the ocean presiding officer, huge numbers of GPs retiring, vacancies impossible to fill, highly paid locums having their pick of where to work, doctors leaving for Australia, patient lists closing down. General practice, as we know it, is under threat. That is what the doctors say. This Government has been in power for nine years. Where is their prescription to rescue GPs services in Scotland? I would like to thank Richard Simpson for his ideas on the matter, they are most welcome. However, as I said earlier on, we are already doing all of that, have done all of it or are under consideration of doing those other things. Be assured that Labour's suggestions are things that we have already done or are already doing. Jenny Marra is saying that £60 million is not a drop in the ocean, it is a substantial investment over the next three years. However, working with the Royal College of GPs and the BMA and others, the most critical thing is devising and looking at new models of care. Of course, we will ensure that those new models of care are properly funded and that we have the workforce required to deliver those new models of care. I hope that, instead of capping from the sidelines, Labour will support that move. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has that orthopedic specialisms are meeting the needs of patients. The Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Committee of Orthopedic and Trauma Consultants to ensure that each orthopedic subspecialty is providing high-quality care for patients as well as monitoring clinical outcomes. However, it is for individual health boards to plan services, including orthopedics, to meet the needs of their local population. I thank the cabinet secretary, and our health board has had a long waiting list for some of those things. Is the availability of consultants in rural areas keeping pace with the demand as the population ages and operating on knees and hips keeps people active and mobile longer? Rob Gibson raises an important issue about the recruitment of consultants to our remote and rural areas. NHS Grampian and NHS Highland have been quite innovative in looking at how to recruit consultants on to networks, which involve them working in a large hospital but also spending some of their time in the rural general hospitals. Those are exactly the type of developments that we need to see in order to ensure that our rural and remote populations get access to the services that they require. Rob Gibson will also be aware that we are looking at elective capacity going forward and ensuring that we have enough elective capacity in order to meet the needs of patients, particularly in the area of hips, knees and eyes. Thank you very much. That concludes questions this afternoon, and we are now going to move to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 14327 in the name of Richard Lochhead on agriculture, current challenges facing the sector and opportunities. I will allow a few seconds for members to change places, and I invite members at this point to press the request to speak buttons if they wish to participate in this debate.