Hansard

“Looking after those who look after us” is the title of today’s debate and I hope that it reminds us all that we should never take our health and social care staff for granted. I am grateful to Miles Briggs for securing the debate and to the BMA, the RCN and Enable Scotland for their helpful briefings.

I associate Scottish Labour members with Miles Briggs’s remarks about Dr Lauren Connelly, who will be sadly missed by her family and her colleagues. Lauren was from East Kilbride in the region that I represent, and I pay tribute to her father and the family who continue to campaign.

Eight years on since Lauren died, the latest General Medical Council survey found that nearly one in every four UK doctors in training said that they were burnt out because of their work. A recent BMA survey found that 91 per cent of doctors work more than their allotted hours. We know that the problem is not isolated to doctors but extends to all staff who are affected by the NHS’s workforce crisis. Social care staff are at risk, too. The social care sector is fragile and staff often experience poor working conditions, sometimes on zero-hour contracts, with low pay and demanding shift patterns.

Health and social care staff are being stretched to their limits, working more than their contracted hours at times. Staff who I have spoken to feel as though they are always on call. Ahead of the debate, I was keen to look into what support is available to staff. I was interested to hear from Unison that some NHS workplaces have implemented staff wellbeing initiatives, such as lunch time yoga—something that perhaps we could all benefit from. The Scottish Conservatives have called for provision for sleep facilities, so that staff can catch up on much-needed sleep before driving home. Those ideas are all worth exploring, and any measure that will protect staff and promote health and safety in the workplace needs to be encouraged.

However, Labour members are concerned about the working conditions that allow staff to become so exhausted and stressed in the first place. Until the Scottish Government accepts that there is a workforce crisis, it will never truly address the systemic problems that our health and social care services face. Scottish Labour research has found that between 2015-16 and 2017-18, 1 million days of NHS staff absence were caused by stress. I attended the annual review of NHS Lanarkshire today, where I raised my concerns about staff wellbeing, because staff absences and vacancy rates there are above the national average. Although any measures to support staff are welcome, we must ensure that the focus remains on the root causes of poor staff wellbeing, such as too much work and not enough staff.

Research from the BMA, the GMC, Unison and others tells us that factors that contribute to stress include workplace culture, bullying and harassment. If our health and social care staff are truly valued, that must be reflected in workplaces, but we have reason to be concerned that some workplaces are not the supportive environments that we expect them to be. This year alone, we have heard worrying cases about staff bullying and concerns about how whistleblowing is dealt with. Those issues are too important to shy away from.

I acknowledge that the health secretary has said that she will appoint whistleblowing champions to every health board, but that must happen as a matter of urgency, because every day that goes by that staff do not feel able to report their serious concerns, more staff will feel demoralised, while patient safety can be put at risk. The on-going issues at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital show how patient safety can be compromised when staff concerns about infection control and cleanliness are not acted upon.

We can support the Conservative motion, because it gives us all an opportunity to show our appreciation for staff and concern for their health and safety. However, we would suggest that more extensive action is required to tackle the root causes of the issues. That is why I am pleased to hear from the cabinet secretary and Miles Briggs that they can support the amendment in my name.

We have sympathy for much of what the Government is saying about the potentially devastating impact of Brexit on health and social care and the EU citizens who are valuable members of our workforce. However, I am a bit concerned about the Government amendment, because it takes out the line about the workforce crisis, which is a fact that we must face up to.

Scottish Labour will always support our health and social care staff to get the working conditions that they deserve and the work-life balance that they need.

I move amendment S5M-16702.1, to insert at end:

“, and considers that such a review must address the underlying issues that contribute to burnout, stress, long-term sickness and to staff leaving health and social care, such as staff shortages, workplace culture, bullying and harassment and poor work-life balance.”