Hansard

I thank Emma Harper for securing the debate and I congratulate her on her immense service, and that of her family, to the NHS. I am always struck by the number of people we come across who are from NHS families and who have brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, sons or daughters who work in the profession and dedicate their lives to caring for our fellow citizens. I offer a genuine thank you to Emma Harper and to all those people across the country who dedicate their lives to our national health service.

I also put on record my gratitude to all those bodies and unions that represent our fabulous nurses, from the RCN—I am delighted to see that Theresa Fyffe of the RCN is in the gallery this evening—to trade unions such as Unison, which support those nurses all year round.

Emma Harper rightly mentioned the sustainable development goals and the Scotland Malawi Partnership, which this week has a stall in the garden lobby. It is important that we recognise the universal healthcare system that we take for granted in the United Kingdom, and it should be our ambition for people around the world to have access to a universal healthcare system. No matter whether they are from the poorest background or from the wealthiest background and no matter their race, religion, nationality, gender or sexuality, they should have a healthcare system that is there to care for them whether or not they have money in their pocket.

I hope that we can realise that ambition either directly through our work with the Department for International Development—which I am proud to say was introduced by a Labour Government and had its budget trebled under a Labour Prime Minister—or through individual healthcare workers going from here to spread their expertise and knowledge in other parts of the world. Pauline Cafferkey is just one of many people who risk their lives going to other parts of the world—sometimes the most dangerous places—to care for others.

It is, however, important to realise that our NHS workforce in Scotland still face challenges. On a daily basis, our NHS staff have to deal with people who exhibit threatening behaviour and people who are in difficult emotional situations. They have to face that on the front line, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for that.

As Donald Cameron mentioned, there are pressures and strains on the NHS and earlier this afternoon we had a debate about the stresses and strains on our NHS staff here at home. I note with disappointment that the Parliament has voted down a pay increase for NHS staff just prior to a debate that, I am sure, we all want to take part in as we celebrate international nurses day. As Graham, a nurse whom I met this morning, told me, good will is one thing but good will does not put food on the table. It is important that we remember that.

I hope that all of us, across the Parliament, can resolve to work together to champion the valuable role of nurses—both at home and abroad—not only on international nurses day, but all year round and that we can continue to have a national health service that is a gold-standard beacon not just for the rest of the United Kingdom but for countries right around the world. We must show that they can have effective healthcare that is free at the point of need and that their societies can come together and pay their dues to care for all their members, no matter what their background. That is a principle of the NHS in Scotland that I am proud of, and it is one that our nurses live and breathe every day. I hope that we can all resolve to make that principle a reality for people right around the world.