Cara McKee
Scottish Green Party · Scotland
“What assessment has the minister made of the number of young people with learning disabilities and complex needs who remain far from home or in adult settings due to a lack of appropriate local services?”
“Angela Constance: I am acutely aware of the very sobering MBRRACE-UK maternity mortality stats, which show that there is a threefold difference between maternal mortality among black women and maternal mortality among white women, and that the maternal mortality rate for Asian women is a bit higher than that for white women.”
“I thank the cabinet secretary for her statement, and I welcome the commitment to work with black and Asian women to inform the review. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will be aware of the shocking statistic that black women are more than twice as likely as white women to die in pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period.”
“Happily, Clark’s campaign was successful, with the Scottish Government agreeing to provide funding for placental growth factor testing to pregnant people across Scotland.”
“I thank Patricia Gibson for securing the motion for the first members’ business debate and welcome the chance to speak about such an important issue. I take the opportunity to thank the Geddes family from the West Scotland region that I represent.”
“Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations on being elected to your post. As this is my first speech, I will start by thanking the people of West Scotland for electing me. I pledge to serve the people in this role, and I recognise the great privilege that I now have to speak in this chamber.”
The complete record
Every one of 13 lines we hold for Cara McKee, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.
“What assessment has the minister made of the number of young people with learning disabilities and complex needs who remain far from home or in adult settings due to a lack of appropriate local services? Alison Thewliss: I do not have those specific figures in front of me, but I am more than happy to discuss that issue with Cara McKee in greater detail, because it has a significant impact on young people and their families.”
“Angela Constance: I am acutely aware of the very sobering MBRRACE-UK maternity mortality stats, which show that there is a threefold difference between maternal mortality among black women and maternal mortality among white women, and that the maternal mortality rate for Asian women is a bit higher than that for white women. We must recognise the disparities in outcomes that the audits and confidential inquiries that have been carried out across the UK show. It is therefore crucial that racialised health inequalities are tackled. Work has been ongoing in that area—a maternal care action plan was published in February 2025—and I want that work to proceed as a priority. In addition, Cara McKee will note that racialised health inequalities are an important part of the brief for the chair of the new independent review.”
“I thank the cabinet secretary for her statement, and I welcome the commitment to work with black and Asian women to inform the review. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will be aware of the shocking statistic that black women are more than twice as likely as white women to die in pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period. As some of the women who engage with the review might have experienced significant trauma as a result of being racialised by maternity services, how will the cabinet secretary ensure that the review is trauma informed and that sufficient emotional support is available for those who take part in it?”
“To quote Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” 18:27”
“Happily, Clark’s campaign was successful, with the Scottish Government agreeing to provide funding for placental growth factor testing to pregnant people across Scotland. That should now be available all across Scotland and could mean that pre-eclampsia is diagnosed more swiftly, which will enable people to get the right help when they need it. As Patricia Gibson has said, the most common signs that pregnant people may have pre- eclampsia are protein in their urine and high blood pressure, which is what health professionals check for at regular checks throughout pregnancy. Placental growth factor testing may be used if someone is at higher risk, has high blood pressure or protein in their urine. I thank Clark’s parents for campaigning to help other parents avoid the horrific loss that they endured.”
“I thank Patricia Gibson for securing the motion for the first members’ business debate and welcome the chance to speak about such an important issue. I take the opportunity to thank the Geddes family from the West Scotland region that I represent. They lost their son, Clark, early in 2021 after he was born too soon because his mother, Ami, became life-threateningly ill with pre-eclampsia. Clark’s parents, Ami and Stuart Geddes, teamed up with Action on Pre-Eclampsia, which Patricia Gibson has mentioned, to launch Clark’s campaign. Named for their son, the campaign asks for pregnant people in Scotland to be able to access placental growth factor testing: a blood test that has been available in England since 2016.”
“In order to give us the space to make necessary changes and free up hospital beds, the Scottish Government must provide an immediate funding boost to meet the most pressing needs, and that should include a boost to care workers’ pay. Most importantly, we have to recognise that good social care saves us money.”
“All that is not just because it is the right way to treat people but because proper pay and respect for care workers will encourage new workers into the care sector, save the public purse money and improve our NHS by enabling people to move out of hospital beds. Demand on social care services is only going to increase as our population ages. It is necessary that we work with local authorities, the NHS and the third sector to learn from other models of social care such as the Buurtzorg model, developed in the Netherlands, which gives more control and management to care staff and could potentially let us reduce costs without reducing the quality of care.”
“We too often hear folk say that they do not do work that involves caring for others—work that is mainly done by women—for the money. I am afraid that being caring does not pay the bills. There are people such as my old boss who say that they cannot afford fair pay for care workers, but we need to recognise that care workers do an extremely demanding job delivering excellent care, often in difficult circumstances. We need to ensure that those care workers are paid at least £15 per hour and that they have collective bargaining, secure contracts and better terms and conditions, and we need to ensure that nurses in social care get paid the same as nurses in the NHS.”
“A lot more of our care workers now go to people’s homes, which enables people to stay in a familiar environment. That is great, but it takes time and requires more expertise than I needed to have as a care assistant in the 90s. We must ensure that enough time is factored in for workers to travel between homes as well as care for people when they get there. That time is scarce due to understaffing as a result of the UK having to leave the European Union and because the work is badly paid. A lack of staff is making that work more stressful. Many care workers have told me that they cannot provide the care that folk deserve. We must recognise how things are. It is not good enough just to say that we value those workers.”
“Long ago in the 1990s, in Yorkshire, where I grew up, I worked as a care assistant. That was before minimum wage legislation came in, which happened in the same year as this Parliament was established. The pay was terrible, but back then I could stay at my mum’s. The hours worked well for me, and it was a very rewarding job. One day, I was chatting to the manager of the home that I worked in about the proposals that some politicians were making for a minimum wage. He said that he would love to pay a minimum wage, but he could not afford it. The minimum wage was introduced because paying staff a decent wage is not a luxury—it is basic respect. It enables staff to stay. We cannot all live at our mum’s. Thirty years later, care workers’ pay is still too low.”
“Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations on being elected to your post. As this is my first speech, I will start by thanking the people of West Scotland for electing me. I pledge to serve the people in this role, and I recognise the great privilege that I now have to speak in this chamber. I have come here from working in a village library, and it was the daily stories of people’s struggles in life that made me feel that I needed to do something to be the change that I wanted to see, so here I am. In the motion for debate, it is acknowledged that the NHS cannot be improved without improving the state of social care. I am sure that, as well as NHS staff, Parliament would like to recognise and commend the social care staff across Scotland’s local authorities and the third sector.”
“I, Cara McKee, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law.”