Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2019
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 require high-dependency unit or intensive care unit beds, such as day case herniorrhaphy or arthroplasty, can be done privately, but those procedures help to support staff learning and knowledge in patient care, airway management and observation of vital signs as part of a clinical care pathway.
It would take me longer than the four minutes that I have to explain how continuing professional development, the addressing of complications that arise, which the NHS has to deal with, and the clinical care pathways require a multidisciplinary team who all know and work with one another. The use of private hospitals to free up time is not the answer. It may be one answer, but the issue is complicated and complex.
I am pleased that the Scottish Government recognises that there have been challenges in meeting all waiting times across Scotland. It is important to ensure that no one is waiting too long for appointments and treatment. I was pleased when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport published the £850 million waiting times improvement plan in October 2018, but that was not long ago. We need to allow time for health boards and everybody else to look at what they are doing to improve waiting times, given that the cabinet secretary introduced the plan only last October.
Jann Gardner, the chief executive of the Golden Jubilee national hospital, welcomed the announcement and plan, saying that the plan provides direct funding for specialists to provide an additional 200 general surgery operations, 600 ophthalmic procedures and 1,200 endoscopies and colonoscopies each year across Scotland—action that will help to reduce waiting times.
The strategy proposes that some patients, particularly those who are waiting for a routine check-up or test results, will be seen closer to home by a team of community healthcare professionals with close links to the hospital.
The Government is committed to addressing the challenges that we have heard about this afternoon and, as we have seen, the cabinet secretary is taking a proactive approach.
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