Meeting of the Parliament 18 January 2023
If the member does not mind, I want to make some progress. I have taken a few interventions.
I have announced £8 million to procure an additional 300 interim care home beds on top of the 600 that we are already using. I have also announced further plans to recruit additional staff for NHS 24, which is an incredible service, to help us to reduce some of the demand at the front door of acute services.
As health secretary, I retain the emergency powers and the ability to direct that are set out in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. I am well aware that a number of members have called for a national major incident to be declared or for the NHS to be put back on to an emergency footing. However, a blanket pause of elective procedures would be the wrong thing to have as there would be significant impacts on the health service and, crucially, on patients who are waiting. It is important that we allow NHS boards to make the necessary decisions at local level. Of course, I have provided guidance and will give support to NHS boards where possible.
Our strategy is unapologetic. We will invest in social care to try to help with the exit block, which we know is causing significant challenges at our busiest acute sites, and we will do our best to reduce demand at the front door. Our work on that is beginning to pay off. We see that attendance at the front doors of busy hospitals is lower than the pre-pandemic level. People are coming in sicker and with higher acuity—that comes across from clinicians on the front line day in and day out—but, if we deal with the front door and the exit block, we can make a difference and see that recovery. We have a relentless focus on that.