Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 21 September 2021
21 Sep 2021 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish Ambulance Service
On a day of new records, and not good ones, the health secretary has been missing in action, refusing press interviews about ambulances for five days, which—I think he would acknowledge—is unusual for him. Ambulance delays continue at record levels and people are dying as a result. Accident and emergency waiting times are at an all-time high, despite the best efforts of NHS staff, who deserve our thanks.
Just this morning, John Thomson, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that the NHS needs an additional 1,000 beds to cope with the current crisis, yet there was not a single mention of additional bed capacity in the cabinet secretary’s statement. Is that because the Scottish National Party have cut beds in the NHS by 1,200 in the past 10 years?
Given that the problems with ambulance delays are actually about patient flows in A and E and a lack of beds in hospitals, will the cabinet secretary tell me whether John Thomson was wrong when he asked for an increase in bed capacity? Will he urgently consider setting up temporary wards or field hospitals like the NHS Louisa Jordan?
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone)
NPA
Members may be aware that some details of the proposed ministerial statement on the Scottish Ambulance Service appear to have been made public via the media ...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I welcome your comments. Paragraph 3.5 of the Scottish ministerial code spells out clearly that, “When the Parliamen...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I thank Mr Kerr for his point of order. I have yet to see the statement, as I have been chairing in the Parliament, but I am aware of the significant referen...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Humza Yousaf)
SNP
Presiding Officer, I hope that you will appreciate that it was never my intention to cause you or the Parliament any issues when I spoke to the media ahead o...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised by his statement. I am conscious that his statement has overrun, for understandable reason...
Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I would normally have welcomed advance sight of the health secretary’s statement, but, on this occasion, it was published on the front page of the Daily Reco...
Stephen Kerr
Con
Shameful.
Sandesh Gulhane
Con
For weeks, we have heard stories of horrendous waits for ambulances. This morning, Jamie McNamee of Unite the Union said: “This is as bad as it’s been, in m...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
I have given detail in my statement about the additional staff that we are recruiting. On the one hand, the Opposition is telling me that we should have take...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Before I call Jackie Baillie, I invite members who want to ask a question, if they have not already done so, to press their request-to-speak button now, or a...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
On a day of new records, and not good ones, the health secretary has been missing in action, refusing press interviews about ambulances for five days, which—...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
Ms Baillie is incorrect, and she may want to go back and correct the record, as I did interviews last week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. I suspect...
Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath) (SNP)
SNP
Given that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, with unprecedented pressures across the health service, including resultant pressures on our Ambulance S...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
In short, yes. I know that health boards are already doing that, and they will continue to look at where staff can be redeployed to the front line when that ...
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
The past 18 months have been a time of unprecedented pressure in the NHS, but the problem is historical. In 2018, only 20 per cent of ambulance staff thought...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
Sue Webber is clearly not talking to her front-bench colleague, because he just said that we announced the investment in additional staff before the pandemic...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Will the cabinet secretary say more about the 103 military staff who will be helping? For example, will they be driving their own vehicles or normal ambulanc...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
I am sure that it will be. I have not seen the detail of the military aid to civil authorities—MACA—requests that the UK and Welsh Governments have made, alt...
Paul O’Kane (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The cabinet secretary says that there will be additional ambulance staff on the ground by April 2022 and that, of the 443 staff who will be recruited this ye...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
I will send the final detail to members once it has been officially agreed between the Scottish Ambulance Service and the military. We expect some of the mil...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
I note that only 21 per cent of calls in August were about life-threatening conditions. Although I welcome the 100 additional call handlers, will the cabinet...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
The issue of the IT systems is looked at regularly by SAS clinical advisers in control centres. They already signpost patients to alternative services. Howev...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
The situation is unacceptable. It is not just down to the pandemic, and to suggest that it is undermines the concerns that staff have been expressing since l...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
We are still in the midst of a global pandemic. It is unbelievable that the member stands there and says that this has nothing to do with the pandemic. Of co...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We had enough sedentary interventions, Mr Cole-Hamilton.
Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
I have spoken to frustrated first responders in my region who, despite being ready and willing, are not being offered the training that is required for them ...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
The amazing community first responders to whom Ms Roddick refers serve in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service to provide exceptional support to p...
Gillian Mackay (Central Scotland) (Green)
Green
I have previously raised in the chamber the pressure that is being put on out-of-hours GP services. Is the cabinet secretary concerned that people who are fa...
Humza Yousaf
SNP
We are committed to increasing funding for primary care by 25 per cent. We made that commitment and I know that the member welcomed it. In short, we are look...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
What steps are being taken to ensure that Ambulance Service transport, including patient transport other than blue-light ambulances, can be utilised to free ...