Meeting of the Parliament 29 January 2025
Let me begin on a note of consensus. The staff of NHS Scotland and those who work in social care do an incredible job. They are the backbone of the national health service and of social care; without them, the services would collapse, so they deserve our heartfelt thanks. However, they are firefighting in a broken system, and they are telling us that things cannot go on like this. Staff are leaving the NHS and social care in their droves and far too many are being signed off with exhaustion and poor mental health. They are burnt out because our NHS and our social care system are in a state of crisis. Responsibility for that lies squarely with the Scottish National Party Government.
Right now, more than 863,000 Scots are stuck on an NHS waiting list, and more than 100,000 of them have been there for over a year. In Scotland, more than 7,000 patients have waited more than two years for surgery. In contrast, in England—which has a population more than 10 times the size of Scotland’s—only 151 people have been waiting more than two years. Cancer patients are being let down as treatment targets are not met. Thousands of children are stuck on child and adolescent mental health services waiting lists while countless others are turned away. Health inequalities are widening and life expectancy is declining. Two thousand Scots are currently stuck in hospital who have been medically cleared to leave but are unable to do so.
I say very politely to the First Minister—who was very animated with me last week—that, across a whole host of measures, things are getting worse and not better. To deny the pressures that the NHS in Scotland is facing is, frankly, delusional, and I am tired of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care telling me that things are actually okay. The situation is causing moral injury to the staff. It compromises patient safety and results in worse outcomes. However, members should not just take my word for it. In the Royal College of Nursing’s damning report on corridor care, which is now the norm, one nurse said:
“I am now in the process of leaving the nhs … It is fraying at the seams and has left me with mental health problems and trauma.”
The crisis cannot be blamed on winter flu cases or Covid-19. The NHS was sailing into troubled waters long before 2020 and the SNP has been in charge for all of that time. For 18 years, it has failed time and time again to protect the health service and to plan for its future.
Let me be honest: attempts at workforce planning have been woeful. The SNP must own the consequences of that, because the evidence is there for all to see. Audit Scotland reports that the target of 800 more general practitioners by 2027 is unlikely to be met. The British Medical Association tells us that an extra 1,000 GPs are needed just to stand still and meet current demand, and it also points out that, despite the Government’s promise, GP numbers are declining and not increasing. At the same time, patient numbers are rising. GPs simply cannot care for more people with the current capacity. It is little wonder that people vote with their feet and head to out-of-hours or accident and emergency departments because they cannot get appointments.
Last night, we were told about GPs in the Lothians who are unemployed. I will repeat that: they are unemployed. At least one is working for Uber. Others go to Australia to work for one month on and one month off. At a time when we are short of GPs and patient demand is increasing, what is the Government thinking? It is a shocking waste of talent that could be deployed in our NHS.