Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2019
In anticipation of the debate, I looked up the definition of the word “guarantee” in several dictionaries. One defined it as
“a formal assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled”.
Another said that it is
“a legal term more comprehensive and of higher import than either a warranty or security”.
So, what is the guarantee? It seems to me to be nothing more than an unfulfilled promise to the 27,000 patients in NHS Grampian who, since the guarantee took effect, have had to wait longer than 12 weeks for treatment. In the last quarter of 2018, the figure represented 42.5 per cent of all the patients in the NHS Grampian area who were waiting for treatment.
I want to make it clear that I do not blame the hard-working staff who work for NHS Grampian for that sorry state of affairs, nor do I blame them for the fact that NHS Grampian has regularly had the worst records in Scotland for operations being cancelled for non-clinical reasons and for treating child and adolescent mental health problems.
In other areas, too, NHS Grampian’s record in treating patients is less than spectacular. For the final quarter of 2018, the board had the second-worst record for treatment within the 31-day standard period from decision to treat to first cancer treatment. Furthermore, in the final quarter of 2018, 85 per cent of patients who were referred to clinics in Grampian for chronic pain treatment received their treatment outwith the guaranteed time.
I could go on with a rather lengthy list of various treatments and illnesses for which patients in NHS Grampian come out worse, or almost worse, than those in any other health board area in the country. Presiding Officer. I am not going to do that, because you have given me only four minutes, so I would not have time.
We often talk about a postcode lottery for various treatments, but it is worse than that for the 11 per cent of Scotland’s population who happen to live in the NHS Grampian area. Earlier, I said that I do not blame NHS Grampian’s hard-working staff for the situation in which we find ourselves. I want to lay the blame for that sorry state of affairs fairly and squarely at the door of the Scottish Government, because, over the past 10 years, the Scottish ministers have failed to provide £239 million of funding that should have come to NHS Grampian. That is not my figure—it is one that has been provided by the Scottish Government and is available to everyone through the Scottish Parliament information centre.