Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 11 May 2022
I believe that we should be candid in this chamber. Protecting people from violent crime is a priority for any Government, yet, under the SNP Government, the rights of criminals are now being prioritised over those of victims and violent crime has risen to its highest level since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister.
Aside from the damage suffered by victims and the growing strain on our police and justice system, violent crime adds pressures that are faced by our front-line doctors and nurses. According to the charity Medics Against Violence, which is part funded by the Scottish Government, treating the consequences of violence in Scotland costs an estimated £400 million a year—and that is just the national health service cost. Four hundred million pounds is equivalent to what it would cost to employ around 12,000 additional nurses, and it is more than the anticipated budget to build a new Monklands hospital. Four hundred million pounds—well, that is two ferries under the SNP Government.
I am not suggesting that any Government can achieve a zero level of violent crime. However, the Government’s soft-touch policies are piling more pressure on services and NHS resources. Let us consider the numbers. An ambulance callout costs, on average, £244; attendance at accident and emergency costs £190; surgery costs at least £3,000; and a hospital stay costs about £570 a day.
I remember being called down to A and E because a young man had been stabbed in the abdomen. He was dying. His blood pressure was dropping and he was drifting in and out of consciousness. The knife wound was only about 2cm across, but there was internal damage. We had to perform an emergency laparotomy at midnight—the consultant and I had to cut him right open. We found pooled blood, faeces and an engorged small bowel. We had to search through and find all the bits of bowel that had lacerations and cuts, and we had to resect—that is, take out that entire section. It took more than three hours of operating, with our hands deep in that young man’s abdomen. It was touch and go but he survived, though at what cost?
There are more and more assaults on our NHS staff. There were 13,000 assaults in the past year, of which 7,000 were physical assaults. The Scottish Ambulance Service recorded 146 assaults. That is totally unacceptable. Abuse that is directed by patients at NHS staff includes bullying, harassment, hate crimes and sexual assault—I repeat, sexual assault. Members should let that sink in.
Too many offenders decide to stoop so low because they know that the system is not tough on crime. Back in September, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care asked patients to think twice before calling an ambulance. Maybe the SNP Government should tell thugs to think twice before resorting to violence.
What does the SNP Government do? It has given the vote to prisoners who have sentences of 12 months or less—people who have convictions for crimes that might include murder, rape or domestic abuse.
This is a highly charged debate, as it should be, because the people whom we represent, across the length and breadth of Scotland, deserve to feel safe. They deserve the assurance that people who seek to do them harm will be dealt with firmly. A firm response is a deterrent. Members who do not agree should try going to an A and E department on a Friday night and explaining their reasoning to the doctors and nurses who are mopping up the mess.
The Government must support the police adequately. It must remove violent crime from society. It must remove criminals from society until it is safe for them to return. It has a duty to support the victims of crime. Victims should never be treated as an afterthought in our justice system.
That is all common sense. It is not the property of any single political party. I hope that sense will prevail and that members will support the motion in Jamie Greene’s name.
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am a practising NHS doctor.
16:47