Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2022
Unions are still meeting to discuss the latest pay deal. I will let them have those discussions and my door will be open to try to prevent industrial action from taking place. I hope that when NHS members see the detail of the deal they will accept it.
It is untrue to say that there has been no progress on waiting times in the NHS during its recovery, even while we are in the midst of the pandemic. I announced the planned care waiting times targets in the summer, and the latest figures from Public Health Scotland show that 76 per cent—31 of 41—out-patient specialties had no or fewer than 10 patients waiting more than two years, and that 60 per cent of in-patient and day case specialties had fewer than 10 patients waiting more than two years. That is demonstrable progress, and it is all thanks to our brilliant NHS staff.
There is no doubt that delayed discharge rates are too high. They create real challenges in the social care sector, and that is why one of the first things that I did when I came into this role was ensure not just one but two pay uplifts for adult social care staff. We know that there are challenges in the social care sector. Our care homes have been hit by a triple whammy of Brexit, the pandemic and high inflation and energy costs. Two out of three of those factors are, of course, a result of the Conservatives putting ideology above the interests of the country, and it is clear that our social care sector is paying the price.
On Tuesday, I met chief executives of local authorities and health boards and chief officers of health and social care partnerships from across Scotland, and we will do everything that we can to support them.
The pressures on accident and emergency departments are being driven by the pressures that I have already mentioned and by delayed discharges elsewhere in our hospitals, but we have put £50 million towards our urgent and unscheduled care collaborative programme. Although the current level of performance is not where I want it to be—and I agree entirely with the Royal College of Nursing and Jackie Baillie’s assessments that long waits harm patients—we will do everything that we can to take a whole-systems approach to reduce the pressures on A and E.
We must be frank that we face a very difficult winter ahead due to the cumulative pressure from the pandemic, flu and slips, trips and falls. Therefore, my focus, and that of the Government, will be to spend every single waking moment supporting our NHS and the staff who work in it.
In Scotland, we have the best paid NHS staff in the UK and more GPs per head, more dentists per head and more NHS front-line staff per head under this Government. Yes, challenges persist, but there are shoots of recovery.
Let me finish by acknowledging that although this winter will be one of the most difficult ones that our NHS has ever dealt with, I praise our NHS and social care staff for the incredible, compassionate care that they provide to the people of Scotland, day in and day out. I give them a promise that we will not just honour them with words, but through our deeds.
I move amendment S6M-06437.1, to leave out from “that record” to end and insert:
“about the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the health of the people of Scotland and on the operation of the National Health Service; acknowledges that, as a result, Scotland’s NHS and care services face deep pressures, with 884 patients with COVID-19 currently in hospital; recognises that, as a result of increases in inflation, the health budget is worth around £650 million less than in December 2021; notes that the £600 million Health and Social Care winter plan supports recruitment of 1,000 additional staff, and includes over £120 million to help health and social care partnerships expand care at home capacity; welcomes that, in the face of these challenges, the NHS has been steadily increasing activity levels; recognises the exceptional work of NHS staff through the pandemic and beyond, and that the NHS Agenda for Change pay offer would see the lowest paid staff in NHS Scotland getting an increase of over 11% and qualified nursing staff seeing an increase of up to 8.45%; further recognises that if the offer is accepted, an experienced porter will be paid up to £2,502 more than their counterparts in England and Wales; recognises that, similarly, an experienced paramedic and staff nurse will be paid up to £2,186 more than their counterparts in England and Wales, and understands that the £50 million investment in improving unscheduled care has addressing long waits as a key area of focus.”
15:04Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.