Hansard

On behalf of the Scottish Labour Party, I begin with a tribute to all the healthcare staff on the front line of the pandemic, who are working hard in the most difficult circumstances on behalf of all of us. We could not get through the pandemic without the healthcare workers on the front line and those who are behind the scenes, some of whom put themselves at risk every single day just to keep our national health service going and to keep caring for others. They are not just putting themselves at risk of the virus; they are putting at risk their mental health and wellbeing.

We all know that the second lockdown is not easy for anyone and that many people are struggling with the isolation and pressure that come from juggling many different responsibilities, from home schooling to working from home. We need to get the pandemic under control and eliminate the virus, and we need to give people hope, confidence and assurance that we have a pathway to do so. That is why getting Scotland vaccinated must be our top priority and getting the roll-out of the vaccine right is in everyone’s interests.

Today, we have heard again some horrifying statistics from the First Minister. The numbers of people who are dying every day are far too high. Just one loss of life to the virus is one too many. Our thoughts continue to be with everyone who has lost a loved one.

Getting everyone vaccinated safely and quickly is crucial to our Covid-19 recovery, and that is absolutely where our collective focus should be. That is why we must take very seriously the concerns of clinicians and those on the front line who are sounding the alarm.

I say to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport that we will not make points in the debate to have a go at the Government. Labour members are trying to reflect what is being said to us by people on the front line, their families who are worried at home and people with direct experience. The Government’s amendment says lots of things that we agree with, but it knocks out most of the concerns from the front line that we are trying to reflect in our motion, so we will not be able to support it. However, we will work with the Government to ensure that all of us get it right. When we raise concerns about the front line, we do so with the very best of intentions.

In particular, I commend the British Medical Association Scotland and the doctors it represents, as they have been speaking out about the pressures on the NHS. The current wave of the pandemic and the increased transmissibility of the new variants have placed the NHS and, of course, our social care services under severe pressure. The chair of BMA Scotland, Dr Lewis Morrison, said:

“We’ve used the expression ‘stretched to breaking point’ so often there’s a risk that phrase loses its meaning but that is exactly where we are right now.”

Across the healthcare front line, we know that many others have been raising concerns about the adequacy of current personal protective equipment recommendations and what is available to staff. That is what is reflected in our motion. The BMA has written to both Public Health England and Public Health Scotland asking for enhanced PPE protection. The Royal College of Nursing has also called for enhanced protection against the new variant and a review of the sufficiency of current PPE advice more generally.

I think that we would all agree that the virus got so badly out of control in the first place because our Governments did not always act quickly enough during the first wave of the virus. On many fronts, we were too slow—on lockdown, on testing and on PPE—so let us not repeat any of those mistakes when it comes to the roll-out of the vaccine and the warnings from staff about the need for more protection.

We should be taking a precautionary approach; we need to listen to those on the front line who are asking for better PPE and we should be providing it to them and trusting their judgment. Higher-grade masks should be made available to all patient-facing healthcare staff as a priority, because the level of hospital-acquired Covid infections shows that it is vital to take more action now. The cabinet secretary knows that I pressed her last summer on the worrying numbers of people catching Covid in our hospitals and we know that we are still not getting it right. In many cases, the situation looks as though it is worse than it was in the first wave. Patients who were admitted to hospital for other reasons have subsequently contracted Covid and, in some cases, they have died, which is a tragedy.

This morning, I was contacted by a concerned member of the public, whose mother caught Covid in hospital. She says:

“After keeping my 82 year old mum safe from covid all these months she now has tested positive for the virus within hospital.

She had a massive stroke before Christmas.

I would have thought all frontline staff and patients would be vaccinated as a matter of urgency but that appears not to be the case.

Mum’s ward has been on lockdown so she’s obviously contracted it from a member of staff.

I feel it’s not good enough.

How many other people are contracting this virus within a hospital setting?

You’re supposed to feel safe there but instead it’s proving deadly.

I know there is nothing you can do to help us but I just would like to make you aware that things are not great within the hospital setting.”

Although she says,

“I know there is nothing you can do to help”,

I think that we all have to take that point away, because we do have to help.

I know that all the members of the Scottish Parliament have inboxes that are bursting with similar stories, so let us agree today that we are going to do something about this, because the reality is that, when we do not act quickly enough to roll out the vaccine and PPE, people are let down. It is not just the BMA and the RCN that are calling for enhanced PPE; it is also being called for by the GMB, Unison and Unite the union—I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests in that regard. We need a safer system of work for all.