Meeting of the Parliament 11 June 2025
I do not disagree that there is a crisis in NHS Scotland. I will come to that, but the member will also acknowledge that many of the problems that we face in Scotland are made at Westminster. For example, the persecution of asylum seekers, who are not allowed to work, takes valuable people out of our workforce, and there is the persecution of immigrants and the hostility to people who come here. I will come to those points.
Scotland has a crisis in our medical and nursing workforces, as the member says. Everyone is aware of that. We are all aware of the absurd rigmarole that we go through when we try to get a GP appointment and we have to call over and over at 8 am or 2 pm to get through. We have all done that. It is quite a challenge to anyone who has a job or daytime responsibilities. Increasing the number and availability of GPs and expanding and enhancing general practice facilities and premises must be an urgent priority, and there are some things that we need our Governments to do to fix that.
We need the UK Government to let up on its hostility to foreigners and immigration. Some 40 per cent of GP trainees across the UK are international medical graduates—IMGs. The Labour Government at Westminster should offer them all indefinite leave to remain upon successful completion of GP speciality training. The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland agrees with me on that.
The Scottish Government could help by creating a national umbrella body that was capable of sponsoring IMG visas to remove the bureaucracy and costs from GP practices. Of course, the UK Home Office could remove that at the stroke of a pen, but here we are.
The UK Government should also rethink its unworkable fiscal rules, commit to taxation of the most wealthy and of polluting industries and reverse the increase in employer national insurance contributions, which were its only options after making self-harming promises on taxation during its election campaign.
There is a great deal of anxiety among GPs about the risk of underemployment due to constrained practice finances. The recent increase in employer national insurance contributions has led many GP practices to freeze or scale back their recruitment plans. The Scottish Government must work to deliver the future medical workforce project urgently and to complete the implementation of the nursing and midwifery task force as soon as possible.
The Scottish Government must increase the general practice workforce and, just as important, increase capital investment in general practice premises to expand and enhance facilities and infrastructure. A 2022 survey by the Royal College of General Practitioners found that 62 per cent of respondents considered that their premises were not fit for purpose, with issues such as a lack of consulting rooms.
We see that in East Calder, where my Lothian region colleagues Sarah Boyack and Foysol Choudhury have led the campaign to expand the local health centre. The East Calder health centre was originally built for 4,000 patients but now serves up to 16,000, as the towns and villages in the area have expanded rapidly, which has led to challenges for medical staff and for patients who are trying to access those services. The lack of investment in infrastructure has left patients and staff in limbo.
GP surgeries are only one aspect of the health service, but they play a crucial role at the front line and in preventative care. If we help them, we help to unburden our emergency rooms and our hospitals.
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