Meeting of the Parliament 10 June 2015
I welcome Jenny Marra’s consensual tone. My amendment seeks to build on that tone, and I hope that it will be received in that spirit.
Presiding Officer, I hope that you will give me a little latitude later in my speech to deal with the A and E issue that Jenny Marra raised, because it is important to set out some facts on that matter.
I am pleased to update the Parliament on my announcement on 22 January of a public debate on health and social care. I said then that, among many others, I would work with colleagues across the political spectrum to seek as much consensus as possible on the shape of health and social care by 2030. I am open to all constructive ideas for the future; I hope that some such ideas will be put forward during the debate and that we make some initial progress towards consensus. I will continue to engage with colleagues across the Parliament as I take forward more detailed work that is informed by the wider public debate.
The debate will be based on this Government’s solid record on the NHS. We have cemented universal provision, which is largely free at the point of use, and we have rejected the internal market and privatisation agenda. We have protected health funding in the face of considerable challenge—in this financial year, health resource spending has increased by more than £400 million to a record level of £12 billion.
We have made a strong start on integrating health and social care through the roll-out of integration joint boards, and we have provided them with £500 million of investment to help them to develop services that we know will make a difference to local communities by allowing them to take charge of their own health and wellbeing in innovative ways.
In addition, we are performing well above the developed world average in relation to access to healthcare, waiting times and planned care. We have more staff in the NHS than we have ever had—staffing levels have gone up by 10,500. Therefore, we have a good platform on which to build. However, I am the first to acknowledge that the increasing demands on the system require us to look at new, more innovative models.
At this point, I want to respond on the issue of A and E. Targets have their place. I am certainly up for a debate about targets. We have to have the right targets, but targets are important. Before there were targets, people routinely waited 18 months for an appointment and another 18 months for procedures. I remember regularly raising such cases in the early days of the Parliament, so we have come a long way in reaching a position in which we have some of the lowest waiting times.
We still face challenges in meeting some of the targets, and Jenny Marra highlighted the issue of A and E waits. In that respect, I want to respond specifically on the Ninewells issue. As I cannot let it stand without a response, I will—unfortunately—have to take a bit of time to explain things.
It is important to remember that the Ninewells system has been operating since 1998 and that the four-hour target was introduced in 2004. It is therefore quite wrong for anyone to suggest that somehow the Ninewells system has been developed in response to that target; in fact, it predates it.
Moreover, during routine feedback from trainees, the General Medical Council was made aware of some of the bullying issues that were highlighted last year. In response, it looked at the issue in quite some detail and concluded in its report that it
“found no evidence that there was a culture of undermining and bullying in the general surgery and trauma and orthopaedic units”
and that
“Overall, the doctors in training that we met were very positive about their experience at this Hospital.”
Nevertheless, the GMC encouraged “improvements to be made”, and those improvements have been made to ensure that trainees can get feedback in a safe environment.
That said, when any concerns are raised with me, I want to ensure that we have asked all the questions and that we have seen the situation for ourselves. That is why I have asked the chief medical officer to visit Ninewells on Monday, see for herself what is happening there, investigate the matter, ask questions, speak to the staff and trainees concerned, and then report back to me. However, we have to be very careful that we do not undermine one of the country’s best performing emergency departments or that these concerns do not affect patient safety, which I believe is absolutely key to what is done at that fantastic hospital.