Hansard

I open today’s debate by paying tribute to all those who work in our Scottish national health service and social care services. Every MSP, no matter what part of Scotland they represent, will have seen at first hand the dedication and commitment of our NHS staff in providing each and every one us and our families with the care that we need, in good times and in bad. Any organisation, at its heart, is its people, and the NHS is no different.

Sometimes in politics there are cases that make us stop and think that we need to do something collectively to bring about a change. One of the most shocking and tragic cases that has stayed with me during my time as Conservative health spokesman is that of 23-year-old junior doctor, Lauren Connelly. Lauren was killed after her car veered off the M8 motorway as she drove home after a 12-hour night shift at Inverclyde royal hospital in Greenock. At the time, Dr Connelly, from East Kilbride, was just seven weeks into her medical training. The case tragically highlighted the fears about the long working hours and fatigue that are faced by so many who work in our NHS. Staff frequently work exhausting 100-hour weeks, with shift patterns of 12 consecutive days.

I pay tribute to Lauren’s father, Brian Connelly, who, since the tragic death of his daughter, has campaigned tirelessly alongside the British Medical Association for the introduction of stricter limits on working hours. I spoke to Mr Connelly last night, when he told me of his wish for there to be greater public awareness of the hours that junior doctors work, the tiredness that that causes and the consequent risks, both to them and to patient care. He would welcome the support of all MSPs for his campaign to try to rectify those long-standing problems and improve the health and safety of junior doctors across our country. Mr Connelly is determined to see the First Minister’s 2017 pledge to implement a 48-hour working week delivered, and I hope that all parties will agree to attend a cross-party meeting that I am organising to help take that work forward.

People who work in our NHS are superheroes in many people’s eyes, but they are not superhuman. We need to understand the impact that the on-going NHS workforce crisis, which involves high vacancy rates in nursing, consultancy and mental health posts and high absence rates across the health service, is having on staff and staff morale.

As the British Medical Association says, there are simply not enough health professionals working across all professions in Scotland’s NHS today. Ninety-one per cent of doctors are working more than their allocated hours. The British Dental Association recently warned that 57 per cent of associate dentists are looking to retire from general dental practice. One in four general practitioner practices in Scotland has a vacancy and the Scottish NHS is short of 2,400 nurses and midwives.

After 12 years in charge of our Scottish NHS, Scottish National Party ministers need to accept that they have presided over a workforce crisis that is impacting on the wellbeing of NHS staff today. It is therefore little wonder that the Royal College of Nursing accused Nicola Sturgeon of

“a spectacular error of judgment”

when she cut the number of student nurses when she was health secretary, quadrupling the number of unfilled nursing posts and putting all NHS staff under pressure.

Perhaps more concerning is that the BMA also believes that official figures are continuing to underreport the actual extent of vacancies among the consultant workforce. BMA research that was published last year showed that the actual vacancy rate is likely to be running substantially higher than the official figures. Freedom of information data showed that the number of vacancies was in fact around double the level that was recorded by official statistics. That is a difference of around 375 whole-time equivalent vacancies, which means that, potentially, enough doctors to staff a large hospital are missing from our Scottish NHS today.

We need to understand the severe pressures that NHS staff are under and how that negatively impacts on their own health and wellbeing. Retention of staff has to become the number 1 priority for the Government and for the health services that we all want to perform well. That is why the Scottish Conservatives have secured today’s debate.

We need our NHS working environments to take into account the wellbeing and needs of those who work in them. Therefore, the Conservatives call on ministers today to review NHS and social care staff workplace support services in order to improve and promote wellbeing. We have a few ideas, and so will, I know, members across the chamber and, perhaps more important, groups outwith the Parliament—ideas about how we can move towards a more holistic approach to the wellbeing of our NHS staff.

One such idea is to have sleep pods and phone charging points in hospitals, where NHS night-shift staff can rest before they attempt long journeys home. Another idea is to offer NHS staff free parking—NHS staff in Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh continue to face unacceptable parking charges. Mental health support and financial advice should be provided to NHS staff. Salus, which is based in NHS Lanarkshire, is already offering such support to all NHS Lanarkshire staff, and I would like to see its services rolled out across the country. We could also provide free health checks at community pharmacies to help give NHS staff lots of additional holistic support services, such as weight management services.

It is important that there is a focus on NHS staff wellbeing. NHS Borders recently told the Health and Sport Committee that it has a “wellbeing Wednesday”, and we need to look at how we take forward such good practice across all our health boards.

As I said, parties across the chamber and, more important, representative bodies will have ideas about how we can achieve all of that. I hope that we can take those ideas forward.

I am somewhat disappointed with the cabinet secretary’s amendment to my motion. The debate should, and can, be about how Parliament can collectively do something to support and improve the working lives of people who work in our health and social care services. When the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport first took over the role, she said that her approach to the job would involve “mature reflection”. I do not think that, in trying to delete from the motion the mention of the “workforce crisis” that we have across our health service, the approach that she has taken today is productive.