Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2019
15 May 2019 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Treatment Time Guarantee
I thank Alex Cole-Hamilton for securing this important debate, for making an excellent speech and for telling us about his constituent, Jane Ross.
The treatment time guarantee is law. It should have ensured that people receive treatment within 12 weeks, but the most recent figures tell us that since Nicola Sturgeon—then Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy—introduced it in 2012, the Scottish Government has broken its law about 190,000 times. Nicola Sturgeon is now Scotland’s First Minister, and she recently said that she is “not surprised” by long waiting times.
Jeane Freeman, the current Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, has admitted that waiting times are too long. I agree, and I think that we all agree that it is a broken promise too far. Is the cabinet secretary’s best response really to continue breaking the law until at least 2021? The law is not worth the paper that it is written on. If it were any other law in Scotland, and if it were anyone other than the Scottish Government breaking it, there would be consequences. However, as things stand, there is no penalty.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-17281, in the name of Alex Cole-Hamilton, on the treatment time guarantee. 14:40
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
I want to start by thanking the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport for the time that she has given to me on this subject. I know that she agrees with me ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Before I call the minister, I want to say that it is disappointing when members are not in the chamber at the beginning of a debate to which they wish to con...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport (Jeane Freeman)
SNP
I welcome this debate on what is an important issue for patients across Scotland. There can surely be no doubt that I have been very clear from the outset t...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I thank the Liberal Democrats for using their business time for this important debate. No one can be in any doubt that, since Nicola Sturgeon and the Scotti...
Jeane Freeman
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Miles Briggs
Con
A brief one.
Jeane Freeman
SNP
Does the member accept that the 31-day target is being met? In his amendment, the member calls for additional resources for the NHS. Will he explain how we w...
Miles Briggs
Con
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’...
Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Alex Cole-Hamilton for securing this important debate, for making an excellent speech and for telling us about his constituent, Jane Ross. The treat...
The Minister for Mental Health (Clare Haughey)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Monica Lennon
Lab
I will, if I have time.
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
If you take an intervention, you will not get your time back, so I will leave it to the member to decide.
Monica Lennon
Lab
I will take the intervention.
Clare Haughey
SNP
I thank Monica Lennon for taking the intervention. I clarify that the guarantee in the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, which was voted on and decided by ...
Monica Lennon
Lab
We will get to the point about what the law actually says, but the main point is that we have just heard that 190,000 patients have been let down. That is a ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I am sorry. We are tight on time. That is what happens in these short debates. It is what the Parliamentary Bureau agreed, so members will just have to live ...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
I, too, extend my thanks to our NHS staff, who work tirelessly to improve our health—too frequently doing so in an extremely pressured environment. I welcom...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move to the open debate. Speeches should be kept tightly to four minutes, please. 15:10
Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
In anticipation of the debate, I looked up the definition of the word “guarantee” in several dictionaries. One defined it as “a formal assurance (typically ...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Mike Rumbles
LD
I would love to do so, but unfortunately I do not have time. The Scottish Government’s own NHS Scotland resource allocation committee formula still underfun...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you, Mr Rumbles. A wee correction—I did not give you four minutes; it was the Parliamentary Bureau, and Parliament then voted for the four minutes. I a...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
We are again in the chamber, discussing healthcare in our NHS. At the outset, as always, I put on the record my thanks to our incredibly skilled and competen...
Emma Harper
SNP
I am not going to take an intervention. We have four minutes for speeches because that is what the Liberal Democrats chose. Surgical procedures that do not ...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I thank the Liberal Democrats for allowing us to debate the subject this afternoon. In the short time that I have, I want to focus on waiting times in NHS Hi...
Clare Haughey
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Edward Mountain
Con
I will take an intervention from the cabinet secretary, but not from you, I am afraid. Patients feel let down, and clinical staff feel the burden of respons...
Jeane Freeman
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Edward Mountain
Con
I will. I am always delighted to.