Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2026 [Draft]
In my first speech of the new parliamentary session, I congratulate you, Deputy Presiding Officer, on your election to your role, and I welcome members of the health team to their new briefs.
I thank the people of Central Scotland, who have elected me to represent them again, and I also thank those who live in the West Lothian part of the new region. I am grateful for their support, and I look forward to serving communities across the new region by holding the Government to account on the issues that matter most to those communities and supporting them when they need me. However, like Miles Briggs, I hope that changes, particularly changes in delivery of NHS services, will make that less of a necessity for many of our constituents.
Turning to the subject of the debate, I add my own thanks to Scotland’s NHS and social care staff. Their everyday dedication, professionalism and compassion, often under the most immense pressure, show Scotland at its very best.
I am grateful to all members who have contributed to today’s debate. We have heard many thoughtful contributions from members across the chamber. In particular, we have heard a range of excellent first speeches from new members. Helen McDade raised her considerable experience of ME; David Green rightly raised the issue of maternity services in Caithness; David Linden flagged the cross-party campaign in recognition of the need for 24/7 thrombectomy services; Joe Long brought his long experience of supporting people with learning disabilities; Cara McKee raised the crucial issue of social care pay; Morven-May MacCallum is a powerful advocate for those with Lyme disease and chronic illnesses; and Laura Moodie raised the issue of access to care, particularly maternity services, in rural areas. I think all members will agree that they gave fantastic first speeches, and I look forward to hearing much more from them throughout the rest of the session.
At the start of a parliamentary session, it is normal for the Government to bring a series of debates on the big portfolios and issues and to set out its priorities. However, I find it strange that, in its motion today, the Government has almost nothing to say about its priorities for the NHS, beyond stating its thanks to and recognition of staff, as is absolutely right. I am surprised that the motion lacks detail on the Government’s ambitions.
NHS and social care staff are looking for more. They are looking for details on how they will be supported to do the jobs that they love. The public are also looking for more. They are looking for more details on how our most treasured public service will be protected and how it will be there for them and their families when they need it most, because, for lots of people recently, it has not been there when they have needed it.
It was as though the Government was going through the motions. It knew that it had to have a debate on the NHS in the first couple of weeks of the session, but it seemingly had nothing to say in its motion about how the NHS will be reformed and protected, so it lodged a motion that simply commends and thanks staff.
That is not quite what staff are looking for. They seem to be being treated almost as a human shield in a parliamentary debate. They deserve far more than that from the Government. They deserve the ambitions for the next five years to be set out in detail in Government motions. They want answers to the big issues that our NHS faces. They want answers for the more than three quarters of a million people who are waiting for tests and treatment, for the people who are struggling to get a GP appointment and for the people who have cancer or are worrying that they have cancer while waiting time standards continue to be missed. Healthcare staff, who continue to work under extraordinary pressure, want answers.
For some, increasingly, the answer is to get into debt and to go private. Unbearable waits while experiencing debilitating pain are preventing people from going about their lives, going to work and caring for their families. This week’s figures show that the number of private healthcare admissions in Scotland is at a record high for the fifth consecutive year, with Scotland seeing the sharpest increase anywhere in the United Kingdom. That indicates the extreme stress that the NHS is under and, more importantly, the real stress that people are under as they live with conditions while desperately waiting for treatment.
Labour founded the NHS on the principle that healthcare should be available to all, according to need, but Scots are being forced to pay out of their own pockets for healthcare that they have already funded through their own tax contributions. We should take that seriously as a huge flashing red warning light for our NHS.
I pay particular tribute to a certain group of staff: the staff of the neonatal and obstetrics unit at Wishaw hospital. Without their skill, expertise and support, my wife and daughter would not be alive today. The best way to recognise them is to ensure that they are supported, protected and strengthened. They are there for tiny, premature babies, like Rosa, who are yet to be born, but the Government has proposed downgrading that neonatal intensive care unit. Doing that will mean that the smallest and sickest babies will travel further and wait longer for life-saving services. That will separate families at the most vulnerable time in their entire lives.
The staff at Wishaw have already shown what excellence looks like, with their award-winning, life-saving care, but they do not feel supported. They do not feel as though their service is being invested in, and they have no certainty about their future. The most crucial point is that the staff are worried about the premature babies being born in Lanarkshire without that intensive care unit.
In closing, I say this in the most collegiate, sensitive way I can to the new health team: it is not too late to review and reverse that decision.