Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 17 November 2021
I am afraid that I do not have time.
Let us also ensure that a long-term pay deal is in place that addresses low pay in the health and social care sector to stop the haemorrhage of staff. It should not escape our notice that, for the first time in its more than 100-year history, RCN members in Scotland have voted to take selective industrial action. There is a real urgency to improve pay in social care by paying staff £15 per hour.
Scottish Labour supports increasing the number of places for Scotland-domiciled students on medical and nursing courses, doubling the number of widening access to medicine places and increasing student intakes for key health professional roles.
The problems with workforce planning are manifest, and the time for talking has long gone. We need urgent action now, and the Government must listen to the royal colleges, the trade unions and the workforce if we are not to have a crisis each and every winter from now on.
I move amendment S6M-02139.1, to insert at end:
“; recognises that the Scottish Government has presided over historic workforce planning failures across the NHS, with warnings of shortages and staff burnout long before the pandemic; considers that, as well as recruitment, there is an immediate need to improve retention of staff, following reports that many are planning to leave their profession; calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that basic facilities, such as hot meals and rest spaces, are available to all staff, and to improve access to specialised mental health support for the workforce, and recommends that the Scottish Government offers a working time review to every staff member considering retirement, thereby offering more flexible working arrangements, and calls on the expertise of retired nurses and medical professionals willing to return to the NHS to increase workforce capacity over winter.”
16:53Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.