Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2019
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 disgrace. [Interruption.] I wish that I had more time for interventions, but I do not.
In a Scottish Labour debate in May last year, we forced the Scottish Government into a commitment to amend the “Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities” to ensure that patients get an accurate waiting time estimate. A year later, we have the Labour amendment to the motion, because no changes have been made to the charter.
It is our concern that health boards have not been communicating well enough with patients. We hear what the cabinet secretary has said today by way of an update, but Parliament and the country have been waiting long enough. I hope that she can convince us that we can believe her this time, and that action and real change will happen. The changes must not happen at a snail’s pace, which is why Scottish Labour's amendment highlights our disappointment about the lack of progress in a year.
Today, I am sure that we are all thinking about constituents who have been let down. Behind the figures are people who are in pain or distress and are waiting too long for treatment. As Miles Briggs said, this is mental health awareness week, so it is timely that we acknowledge the emotional upset and nervous anxiety that people can experience while waiting for treatment. Long and indefinite waits can have far-reaching consequences for people, touching all areas of their lives. It is easy to see how people can quickly be plunged into financial difficulty or poverty because of ill health. Long waiting times can have terrible consequences for people who are low paid, self-employed or in insecure employment.
The implications of illness and pain extend beyond the individual: they impact on families, communities and workplaces. The workforce crisis in the NHS has many consequences, and too often it is the most vulnerable people who pay the price.
Long waiting times are a recurring issue for my constituents. Last year, one woman in Hamilton waited more than 80 weeks for surgery on her wrist, and is now worried about permanent or long-term damage.
My family has benefited hugely from the NHS in the past few years, for which I will be forever grateful. My mum’s GP probably saved her life. She has been successfully treated for cancer and will celebrate her 60th birthday this month. Thank goodness for that. However, after her cancer treatment, my mum needed another operation for which she had to wait longer than 12 weeks: she had to wait 42 weeks, which set her progress back. My mum is not looking for an apology; she just does not want other people to have in the future to wait so long.
Scottish Labour strongly supports the Liberal Democrat motion, which rightly holds the Scottish Government to account over its failure to comply with its own law. We also support the Conservative amendment, which highlights the other important NHS targets that have been missed.
We welcome Jeane Freeman’s apology to patients in her amendment, and her agreement that patients should be told their expected waiting times in writing. However, we cannot support that amendment because it does not acknowledge the extent to which the Scottish Government has broken its own law, its plan to continue breaching it until 2021, or the fact that there is no redress.
Scottish Labour calls on the Government to honour its commitments and the people of Scotland.
I move amendment S5M-17281.2, to insert after “from the outset”:
“; notes that 12 months have passed since the Parliament called on the government to ensure that accurate waiting times are given to patients; is disappointed that no changes have yet been made to the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities to deliver this; considers that long and unknown waits can adversely affect an individual’s family life, mental and physical wellbeing, education, income and employment”.
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.