Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 22 September 2021
I will be happy to take an intervention from Douglas Ross in my closing speech.
Given that I am in my last minute, I will return to the issue of the wider pressures on the NHS. Jackie Baillie is correct in saying, as her motion does, that it is not just the Ambulance Service that is facing an extreme challenge. We must take a whole-system approach, and we will do so. Our forthcoming winter plan will set out the measures that we and our partners will take to ensure that we can deliver high-quality, safe care in a sustainable way. It will look at increasing capacity, and we will do that through the urgent discussions that we are already having with social care providers and local authorities. I will consider how we can increase our capacity in relation to the workforce immediately, as best we possibly can. Further, as Jackie Baillie asked us to do in her opening speech, we will look at how we can create temporary wards—for example, by repurposing some hospital space.
As I said yesterday, our Ambulance Service and NHS have been there for us when we have needed them the most, and, in turn, this Government will support our NHS during its hour of greatest need. I look forward to the debate.
I move amendment S6M-01302.3, to leave out from “regrets” to end and insert:
“recognises that excessively long waits for an ambulance can lead to worse outcomes for patients, and that the Scottish Government and Scottish Ambulance Service have apologised to people who have experienced long waits; notes that the Scottish Government has previously invested an additional £20 million to increase staff capacity in the ambulance service by almost 300; welcomes that an extra £20 million is now being invested to increase capacity further, including funding military personnel, recruiting additional Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers, working with NHS boards to create Temporary Admission Wards and aiming to recruit 100 paramedic students to help alleviate the current pressures on ambulance staff, NHS workers and patients; further notes that the steps outlined by the health secretary will help alleviate pressure on the service in the immediate term and looking ahead to the winter; commends military personnel and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which are providing driving support to the ambulance service in order to free up paramedic and technician time; supports the additional investment of £500,000 to improve ambulance service staff welfare, and the ongoing discussions between the board and trade unions to develop a rest break action plan and put it in place as quickly as possible.”
16:45Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.