Meeting of the Parliament 03 March 2026 [Draft]
I absolutely agree. Members across the chamber can see the situation that we are describing, but what we do not see is action happening to change that.
Constituents have contacted me to say that they have had to spend hours and hours in A and E and that they are suffering as a result. As other members have said, they describe that as being the result of the Government’s incompetence. They have nothing but positive things to say about the staff; they feel that the issue is about Government mismanagement.
As we have heard, it is not just patients who are paying the price. Long waits in A and E and issues such as corridor care not only affect patient safety but have a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of our staff. Working in an overstretched and overcapacity environment can lead to staff burnout, occupational injuries and lower job satisfaction. I know that the cabinet secretary has read the report that reveals that nurses say that they feel ashamed, demoralised and distraught because they cannot care for their patients in the way in which they have been trained to.
The Royal College of Nursing has made it clear that corridor care due to overcapacity is not just a winter problem but a year-round crisis in the NHS. However, due to the lack of data, the true scale of the problem is not known.
The cabinet secretary will know that, at the start of the year, I asked the First Minister for an update on the progress that has been made on capturing data on corridor care at national and local levels. I was greatly disappointed with his response. He claimed that, despite pressures facing one A and E department, it was operating in a sustainable fashion. I think that we can agree that what is happening is not sustainable. The pressures are there all the time for staff, and being honest about that is probably the first step towards changing it. There is a culture of hoping for the best every winter, and that has meant that our NHS has not made progress.
The NHS in Scotland needs a genuine workforce review and a long-term plan to identify areas of greatest strain, so that we can support staff in their roles in those workplaces. Corridor care compromises patient privacy and dignity, and it should not be accepted as the norm. Our constituents deserve to receive the best possible care—I know that the cabinet secretary believes that—and our staff deserve to work in an environment that protects their wellbeing and allows them to get on with the job that they are trained to do. Therefore, I ask the cabinet secretary to set out some actions that will be taken so that we can strive to get to where we need to be.