Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2013
05 Nov 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Person-centred Healthcare
I confess that I was not aware of that, but it is interesting information—I thank Dr Simpson.
When my husband did GP locums after retiring from full-time practice, the joy for him was that he could do what he was trained for and concentrate on patients, untrammelled by the form filling and administrative issues that had beset him as a senior partner in his practice. I was happy to support the new GP contract when it was introduced in 2004 as it removed the responsibility for out-of-hours care from GPs because it was becoming difficult to recruit new entrants into primary care because they were not prepared to do the on-call work that had been done by their predecessors without extra payment. Now, of course, we are all used to going through NHS 24 to access out-of-hours medical care.
That is all very well after 6 o’clock in the evening and at weekends, but I am concerned—this is a personal concern—that many practices now close down at lunch time on Wednesdays, so that they can concentrate on staff training, and for several days at a time over public holidays such as Christmas and new year. Previously, training was done out of hours and staff shared holiday duties on a rota. Although I think that by and large NHS 24 covers those periods well, the new system has certainly not improved patients’ access to the GP.
I applaud the cabinet secretary for encouraging general practices to improve access, for instance by extending opening hours by offering early morning and evening appointments and by working with GPs and health boards to ensure that practices across the country will have an on-line repeat prescription facility. Personally, I would also like to see more specialist nurses being deployed in primary care because they can do so much to help patients to keep well within the community, thereby preventing repeated hospital admissions and freeing up GPs to give more of their time to patients who need the expertise.
I look forward to the outcome of the cabinet secretary’s negotiations on a new Scottish GP contract and to the roll-out of best practice across the country as a result of his modernisation agenda.
As I said before, much good work is being done to improve the patient experience by putting patients at the heart of healthcare planning, but we are still at the early stages of achieving the desired outcome. The Conservatives will support both amendments at decision time.
When my husband did GP locums after retiring from full-time practice, the joy for him was that he could do what he was trained for and concentrate on patients, untrammelled by the form filling and administrative issues that had beset him as a senior partner in his practice. I was happy to support the new GP contract when it was introduced in 2004 as it removed the responsibility for out-of-hours care from GPs because it was becoming difficult to recruit new entrants into primary care because they were not prepared to do the on-call work that had been done by their predecessors without extra payment. Now, of course, we are all used to going through NHS 24 to access out-of-hours medical care.
That is all very well after 6 o’clock in the evening and at weekends, but I am concerned—this is a personal concern—that many practices now close down at lunch time on Wednesdays, so that they can concentrate on staff training, and for several days at a time over public holidays such as Christmas and new year. Previously, training was done out of hours and staff shared holiday duties on a rota. Although I think that by and large NHS 24 covers those periods well, the new system has certainly not improved patients’ access to the GP.
I applaud the cabinet secretary for encouraging general practices to improve access, for instance by extending opening hours by offering early morning and evening appointments and by working with GPs and health boards to ensure that practices across the country will have an on-line repeat prescription facility. Personally, I would also like to see more specialist nurses being deployed in primary care because they can do so much to help patients to keep well within the community, thereby preventing repeated hospital admissions and freeing up GPs to give more of their time to patients who need the expertise.
I look forward to the outcome of the cabinet secretary’s negotiations on a new Scottish GP contract and to the roll-out of best practice across the country as a result of his modernisation agenda.
As I said before, much good work is being done to improve the patient experience by putting patients at the heart of healthcare planning, but we are still at the early stages of achieving the desired outcome. The Conservatives will support both amendments at decision time.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08155, in the name of Alex Neil, on person-centred healthcare.14:12
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing (Alex Neil)
SNP
I thought that it would be useful for us to have a fairly wide-ranging debate on health and social care in Scotland, given where we are—particularly as we ar...
Neil Findlay
Lab
Before the cabinet secretary moves off the subject of GPs, will he address the system of GP appointments? In some practices, people have to take a ticket as ...
Alex Neil
SNP
We are already looking into it, and a number of pilot schemes have been carried out in Midlothian. In one GP surgery, the patients preferred not to have an a...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I begin by declaring an interest, in that my wife and daughter work in the NHS.I say at the outset that Scottish Labour shares and supports the good intentio...
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
I take on board what the member is saying, but as he will know there have always been and will always be individual examples of people whose care does not me...
Neil Findlay
Lab
That might be the case from a survey, but I tend rather to speak to people on a daily basis who come to my surgery, email me and talk to me. I am sure that m...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I ask you to move your amendment, Mr Findlay.
Neil Findlay
Lab
I move amendment S4M-08155.1, to insert at end:“; commends the hard work and dedication of those working in Scotland’s health and care services, and calls on...
Jim Hume (South Scotland) (LD)
LD
I, too, welcome the opportunity to participate in this afternoon’s wide-ranging debate.In 2010, when the Deputy First Minister introduced the Patient Rights ...
Alex Neil
SNP
I explain to the member that one reason why there are so many more vacancies is that there are many more jobs because we have doubled the number of consultan...
Jim Hume
LD
I am grateful for that, but the situation is worse with nurses and midwives. In June, there were 1,672.9 whole-time equivalent vacancies. The number of vacan...
Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
Despite certain parts of the previous two speeches, I think—and hope—that the debate is likely to be another fairly consensual one on health. None of us can ...
Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
Is the member aware of the fact that the guidance that was issued on the quality outcomes framework in May this year, one month after it came in, ran to 224 ...
Nanette Milne
Con
I confess that I was not aware of that, but it is interesting information—I thank Dr Simpson.When my husband did GP locums after retiring from full-time prac...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Before we move to the open debate, I remind members that those who participate in the debate must be in the chamber for closing speeches at the end of the de...
Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP)
SNP
I am delighted to speak in today’s debate on person-centred care. As deputy convener of the Health and Sport Committee, I often meet stakeholder groups in he...
Siobhan McMahon (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Last week, I and a number of colleagues from Lanarkshire met Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s review team. During what I thought was a productive meeting, t...
Aileen McLeod (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on a fundamental principle in the delivery of safe, effective and world-class care for the people of Scotla...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
The Scottish Government’s ambitious plans for person-centred healthcare are to be welcomed. The Scottish Government introduced its healthcare quality strateg...
Neil Findlay
Lab
Maybe I could mention the other side of self-directed support. People come to us from third sector organisations that provide person-centred support and they...
George Adam
SNP
If I was Mr Findlay, I would make sure that I was speaking in the right debate when I said things. What he raises is more a procurement issue than an issue a...
Margaret McCulloch (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The Royal College of Nursing tells us that person-centred care is one of its eight principles of nursing practice. It is a holistic approach based on mutual ...
Alex Neil
SNP
Our capital budget has been cut by 26 per cent this year alone. That cut originated from Alistair Darling. It is impossible to meet all the original commitme...
Margaret McCulloch
Lab
We support the protection of front-line services; that is not happening under the SNP’s watch.Meanwhile, plans for minor injuries units in places such as Cum...
Fiona McLeod (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
The ambition to have person-centred healthcare is not new, as I know from my many years as a health service librarian. More than 20 years ago, I worked in pa...
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
We have heard much about what person-centred healthcare and support are. A 2011 Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled “Transforming social care: sustain...
Neil Findlay
Lab
I am sure that the member will be gracious enough to acknowledge that, because the Government could not meet the targets, the cabinet secretary had to change...
Mark McDonald
SNP
It is good to see that Mr Findlay does not accept the progress that the Government has been making on accident and emergency waiting times.During Mr Findlay’...
Dr Simpson
Lab
We passed an excellent Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 with a new complaints system that includes the four Cs: compliments, comments, concerns and complai...