Meeting of the Parliament 02 March 2017
The result of the division is: For 62, Against 61, Abstentions 0.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament recognises that the work of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme, which is the first programme of its kind to be implemented on a national basis, is world leading and represents the international benchmark for safe care; notes the efforts of the many staff throughout the NHS in a variety of care settings all over the country to ensure that the people of Scotland can undergo safe and effective treatment; acknowledges the huge challenges that face the NHS in meeting the demands of an ageing population and those of integrating health and social care services; recognises the role that innovative improvement approaches can play in helping to meet those challenges; notes that staffing levels are essential to patient safety; believes that, across a range of clinical specialities and across the country, the NHS is facing severe workforce and staffing issues; therefore believes that to sustain further progress on patient safety, further action on staffing must be a priority; thanks Scotland’s health and care staff for all that they do, but understands from listening to the workforce that services are facing a situation in which demand is often outstripping supply, with rising vacancy rates in key areas, key standards missed and a situation that the BMA Scotland has described as being ‘near breaking point’, and believes that action to reduce harmful and avoidable incidents would be strengthened by ending the NHS recruitment crisis, following warnings from frontline professionals that shortages pose a risk to patient safety, developing a national falls strategy and delivering a step change in mental health services.