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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 03 December 2014

03 Dec 2014 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
National Health Service

We dealt with delayed discharge, and I will deal with it again. I did not want to leave Dr Simpson under any illusion.

In the absence of any other policies, the Labour Party continues to call for a Beveridge-style review. The Beveridge review took four years. I do not want to put the NHS on pause for four years; I want to get on and solve the problems. We know what the problems in the NHS are. We do not need a review to tell us that. We need the action to deal with the problems and ensure that the NHS continually delivers the high level of service that we expect.

I move amendment S4M-11766.3, to leave out from “is concerned” to end and insert:

“believes that, to give certainty to future health service planning, the NHS revenue budget should rise in real terms for the remainder of the current parliamentary session and the next; welcomes that the protection of the NHS budget in Scotland has seen the health workforce rise to a record high; further welcomes that, in the last year alone, NHS consultant numbers have increased by 6.6%; notes that, while delayed discharges today are significantly lower than they were in 2006, action between the Scottish Government, the NHS and local government is required to reverse recent increases; recognises that the successful integration of health and social care will be key to the delivery of the long-term sustainable solution to delayed discharge, improved patient flow and effective and coordinated care at home, and supports the Scottish Government’s aim to work with stakeholders to take forward the continued development of the 2020 vision, as it has in the past, to reflect the increasing demands from patients and the new way that services will be delivered under integration.”

16:39  
References in this contribution

Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-11766, in the name of Neil Findlay, on the state of the national health service. 16:22
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab
The national health service is without doubt the greatest social policy of any Government. The collective pooling of our taxes to provide healthcare for all,...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport (Shona Robison) SNP
Will Neil Findlay recognise the £40 million that was announced by Alex Neil for investment in GP surgeries, particularly in more deprived communities and rur...
Neil Findlay Lab
Of course we always welcome more money, but the issue applies across the board and over a long period, when the budget has been declining. Waiting times for...
Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP
Will the member give way?
Neil Findlay Lab
No thanks. Let us look at what Audit Scotland, whose report should have been a wake-up call to the Government, says about the NHS: “The current level of fo...
Bob Doris SNP
Will the member give way?
Neil Findlay Lab
No, thank you. The Government is failing not only to meet its initial targets but to meet the lower targets that it then set. Audit Scotland also said: “T...
Shona Robison SNP
We have said very clearly that we are committed to a real-terms increase not just in this parliamentary session but in the next one. In the Labour leadership...
Neil Findlay Lab
I will deal with the leadership election outwith the chamber; that is a different matter. Let us deal with what we are dealing with in here. The consequence...
The Minister for Public Health (Maureen Watt) SNP
Will the member give way?
Neil Findlay Lab
No, thank you. Directly linked to the issue is social care, which is one of the greatest scandals of our times. Our elderly and vulnerable friends and relat...
Shona Robison SNP
Unlike the member, local government has been very constructive in responding to the challenges. We should remember that it is a tripartite funding agreement ...
Neil Findlay Lab
We do not know where the money will come from, but local government has to find it—that is how the Scottish Government treats local government. We have simi...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport (Shona Robison) SNP
The NHS is a fantastic institution. As the new Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, I am grateful for the opportunity to put on record my appre...
Neil Findlay Lab
Will the cabinet secretary reflect on the social care resource that is available?
Shona Robison SNP
Of course, that is why we have moved to the integration of health and social care. In his speech, Neil Findlay called for more money for health and more mone...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab
If the cabinet secretary believes that we are making progress, does she share my concern about the current plans to close accident and emergency departments ...
Shona Robison SNP
The member could do with a dose of self-awareness, given where we have been with the A and E departments in Lanarkshire. It was this Government that saved th...
Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Lab
In 2008, the cabinet secretary said that the Government had reached Labour’s target of zero for delayed discharges. In the 24 quarters since then, the target...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab
Cabinet secretary, you are in your last minute.
Shona Robison SNP
My saying that delayed discharge is my top priority gives Dr Simpson a sense of realism. Of course, when I dealt with delayed discharge, it was an inherited ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
Order, please. Interruption. Order, please. The cabinet secretary is concluding.
Shona Robison SNP
We dealt with delayed discharge, and I will deal with it again. I did not want to leave Dr Simpson under any illusion. In the absence of any other policies,...
Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con) Con
I will begin, in the short time that is allotted to me, by endorsing the opening statement of Labour’s motion and by paying tribute to the staff of NHS Scotl...
Shona Robison SNP
I am certainly very willing to offer Opposition members a briefing on our plans and on the progress that is being made on the integration of health and socia...
Nanette Milne Con
The cabinet secretary has just stolen a bit of my speech. It is vital that integration move forward, in relation to not just doctors but to AHPs and nurses ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
We come to the open debate. We are very short of time, so speeches should be up to four minutes, although I am afraid that our last two speakers may not get ...
Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP
The Labour motion identifies a number of pressures on Scotland’s NHS. However, the motion is one-sided and partial, and it gives an incomplete picture and im...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
Order.