Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2019
I had hoped that the debate would rise beyond such comments. The fact is that the Government has been given £2 billion in additional health resources. Today’s debate should be a wake-up call for the cabinet secretary and not just an opportunity for her to try to score cheap points. She should know just how desperate things are in the system, and it is happening on her watch.
Almost since the day the Government passed the treatment time guarantee, we have heard excuse after excuse from SNP ministers. That has to end. Patients want and should be receiving timely treatment. Our NHS professionals want and should be able to provide the person-centred care that we all want to see, not constantly juggling patients in a desperate attempt to meet SNP targets.
The cabinet secretary has mentioned and made much of the £850 million waiting times improvement plan, which was published in 2018. Early information on the plan points towards NHS boards accessing funds for new pieces of medical and investigatory equipment but, on the ground and across the boards, there are not the staff in place to utilise that equipment to its full capacity or provide additional clinics. The expected improvement is not being realised.
Perhaps the only area where ministers have achieved progress is in the increased use of private capacity in Scotland. The plan sets out actions to ensure the future delivery of waiting time standards and guarantees for patients across Scotland by the spring of 2021. However, SNP ministers have already publicly accepted that they have failed to deliver on the promises that were made to patients across Scotland; the waiting times improvement plan will reduce the target for the proportion of in-patient or day cases that must be seen within 12 weeks from 90 per cent to 75 per cent by October 2019. It seems that the SNP ministers’ answer to not being able to meet the target is to water it down even further.
I believe that we need a national debate on the wider impact of targets on our health service. Every week, I meet NHS professionals who feel that the target culture that has built up in our NHS is focusing resources on the wrong priorities, at the same time as demoralising our NHS professionals, who are often unable to meet those very targets.
SNP waiting times promises that were made to patients across Scotland have been broken. The minister asked which ones. She read out all the targets that she has broken. Patients feel totally let down by this Government. It would be good if ministers listened to that fact.
Alex Cole-Hamilton often brings selected quotes to the chamber. Albert Einstein said that, if we want different results, we have to try different approaches.
I move amendment S5M-17281.1, to insert at end:
“; notes the health secretary’s comments that there are still too many people waiting too long for the treatment that they need; further notes that the treatment time guarantee is not the only waiting time target being missed, with others including the 18-week referral to treatment standard, the 62-day cancer urgent referrals standard, psychological therapies waiting times and the CAMHS waiting time standard; is concerned that waiting times are too long, and believes that the Scottish Government needs to take action to give the NHS the resources and the leadership that it needs to tackle this crisis.”
15:01
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