Meeting of the Parliament 03 December 2014
Of course, that is why we have moved to the integration of health and social care. In his speech, Neil Findlay called for more money for health and more money for social care. We need to make sure that the £12 billion that is in the system for health and the huge resources for social care are delivering the improvements that need to be made, and that is what I will focus on doing.
As I said earlier, we have committed to ensuring that the health resource budget receives real-terms rises in each and every year of the next parliamentary session. I note that, when he was given the opportunity to make that commitment, Neil Findlay did not do so, which somewhat pulls the rug from under his argument about resources.
This Government has increased the number of NHS staff to record levels. Yesterday, members saw the workforce statistics, which showed that there are 7.6 per cent more staff working in the NHS. That translates into more than 9,600 staff. It means more doctors, dentists, allied health professionals, nurses and support staff.
The NHS is treating more people than ever before while, at the same time, reducing how long people have to wait for treatment. The number of in-patient cases has increased by more than 162,000 under this Government and day cases are up by more than 45,500. The latest statistics show that 97 per cent of new in-patient and day cases are seen within 12 weeks. There is more resource, but more people are being treated.