In the next few weeks we’ll see political parties launch their party manifestos, but here at ScotlandVotes, we like the personal touch. So we’re asking candidates ‘What’s your Big Idea?’ This feature will see candidates talk about something they’d like to achieve if elected in May.
First up is Miles Briggs who is standing as the Scottish Conservative candidate in Edinburgh Southern.
My Big Idea: a national youth screening programme to detect heart defects in young Scots
The rallying cry during the years leading up to the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament was that devolved politics would allow Scotland to develop Scottish solutions to Scottish problems.
In the seventeen years since the Parliament was reconvened progress has been made in some areas from the implementation of the smoking ban in public places to free personal care for the elderly. However, these policies have to a great extent been in the sights of every western Government and Parliament.
A healthy democracy should see MSPs from all parties bringing forward their ideas to the table. As a Lothian’s MSP candidate I have had the pleasure to meet with some inspirational groups and charities who are working to address many issues facing our communities. One such group is the Jamie Skinner Foundation. The Foundation was established after the tragic death of Jamie Skinner who passed away on the 22nd December 2013 while playing football for Tynecastle Football Club following a cardiac arrest. He was just 13.
Since the Foundation was established it has raised over £40,000 to help fund and locate life-saving defibrillators in sports clubs all over Lothian through its partnership with the Edinburgh Evening News.
More than 1500 Scots died in the community last year after suffering a cardiac arrest and survival figures have remained stubbornly low. And perhaps most tragically is the number of young, fit and healthy Scots who have died from a sudden cardiac arrest with around twelve young people dying suddenly each week in the UK of previously undetected heart problems. That has to change and I believe we have an opportunity to make the changes to do something about it.
Scotland can lead in this area by delivering a comprehensive screening programme for all young people. An Electrocardiogram (ECG) test is painless, non-invasive and takes only a few minutes to perform. The scan looks at the electrical conduction pathways around the heart and is then evaluation by a cardiologist.
I believe the time has come to bring forward new ideas to address this and many other issues and for the Scottish Parliament to take steps to put in place the best practice – a national youth screening programme would help to find any heart defects in young Scots before they cost lives. Insisting that all children are given an electrocardiogram test either at school or at their local sports club could help identify those who are at risk.
It’s time for the Scottish Parliament to turn the page on the old constitutional arguments that have dominated the last nine years and to once again focus on policies and reforms to make Scotland a world leader.