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Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2013

05 Nov 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Person-centred Healthcare

Hume, Jim LD South Scotland Watch on SPTV

I am grateful for that, but the situation is worse with nurses and midwives. In June, there were 1,672.9 whole-time equivalent vacancies. The number of vacancies has more than doubled in 18 months and it increased by about 650 in just a year.

While I am on the subject of consultant vacancies, I add that we cannot forget last winter, when the crisis in Scotland’s accident and emergency departments left hundreds waiting more than 12 hours for treatment. I presume that delivering person-centred healthcare was not at the forefront of the minds of the hard-working staff who had to catch up and deal with that situation last December and January.

Members will recall that, in response to that experience, various action plans were produced and additional front-line staff were promised in February. That crystallised into the promise in June of the immediate recruitment of 18 consultants. However, when I questioned the cabinet secretary last month on whether those consultants were in post, he was able to inform me of only three at that stage, who had been recruited by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Following press inquiries, the Government pressed the cabinet secretary to declare hastily that there were actually 13 consultants now in post. I am not sure why he had been unable to give me an accurate answer a few hours earlier, given that he had had eight days’ advance warning. That is a little unclear, but I am glad that the possibility of negative headlines managed to concentrate the minds of those in Government. Perhaps the cabinet secretary will be able to clarify later whether we now have the promised 18 consultants.

Staffing is not the only critical component in delivering the infrastructure—resources are needed too. Throughout the country, however, there are regional discrepancies in treatment times for various conditions. One board may perform well in providing timely access to clinical psychologists but may be found wanting in scheduling appointments for cardiologists.

Nothing demonstrates that better than the variance in the boards’ ability to meet the 62-day treatment time guarantees across all 10 cancer types. The 95 per cent national standard is achieved for only four out of 10 cancer types, but the differences in timely treatment between boards are alarming.

The most recent data highlight the fact that only 66 per cent of colorectal cancer patients are treated on time in Grampian, whereas the figure is 72.7 per cent in the Borders. In Tayside, only 71.4 per cent of melanoma patients are treated on time, with the figure reaching 75 per cent in Fife and Grampian. For cervical cancer, the figure is 75 per cent in Lanarkshire, 80 per cent in Fife and 83.3 per cent in Lothian. Only 60 per cent of patients with ovarian cancer in NHS Highland were treated on time.

The reality is that, as well-intentioned and desirable a model as person-centred healthcare is, the raw materials must be in place for an individual’s treatment pathways to be tailored to their requirements and values. What use is a person-centred model of healthcare if the resources are not in place to cater for it and the staff—either because of workforce issues or because they have too many demands on their time—are not in a position to deliver it?

I will go into deeper detail with regard to the mental health aspect of my amendment in my later speech today, and I hope that other members will pick up on its importance. Suffice it to say that mental health is the basis of good health in Scotland. There are still stigmas attached to mental health and illnesses, and although we have come a long way there is still some way to go in Scotland in providing access to psychological therapies, art therapies and the like. We still have to make further progress on that.

We will support the Government’s motion and the Labour amendment.

I move amendment S4M-08155.2, to insert at end:

“; believes that all people in Scotland should be supported to live a longer, healthier life; acknowledges that this support can only be delivered in a person-centred manner with a well-resourced and motivated workforce; considers mental wellbeing to be a foundation for good health and good healthcare, and believes that further work is needed to break down barriers and tackle the stigma that continues to exist around mental ill-health.”

14:43

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Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2013

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