Meeting of the Parliament 03 March 2026 [Draft]
That is what our constituents expect of us, and I hope that the cabinet secretary accepts that we are expressing a genuine level of concern on our constituents’ behalf. Those constituents are not just patients and not just staff; they are staff and patients. Tim Eagle was right to say that we are not seeing enough change. We should not pretend that there is change when there is not change. He pointed out some of the ridiculous executive decisions that have been made about, for example, reducing the presence of minor injuries units in parts of Scotland and closing community hospitals.
Over Christmas and new year, I spent several hours in the emergency department at Forth Valley royal hospital with a family member. I have spoken directly to the senior leadership of NHS Forth Valley about what I saw. I saw professionalism under strain; I saw calm, decency and commitment; and I saw staff doing their absolute best in circumstances that would stretch any workforce in any setting. They deserve our gratitude, but appreciation is not a strategy.
As has been repeated by a number of colleagues in the debate, the central issue is flow. Bed occupancy is persistently high; patients cannot move on; treatment areas are backed up; ambulances are queueing; and corridor care becomes normalised. Bed occupancy should be treated as a front-line accountability measure. If hospitals are routinely operating beyond safe margins, ministers must answer for that. There is accountability.
The pharmacy first approach needs to be reinforced. Pharmacists are highly trained clinicians and, for minor conditions, they are the right first call. However, that policy does not work in practice. If a parent cannot find an open pharmacy, they will—as is rational—go to A and E. We need round-the-clock access to pharmacies, clear signposting and a public campaign to shift behaviour; otherwise, A and E will remain overwhelmed.
I will raise one more issue in the time that I have. A small minority of people behave disgracefully in our emergency departments—they intimidate the staff and harass other patients. That is unacceptable. Abuse and violence must carry visible consequences. Zero tolerance must mean zero tolerance.
My colleague Sharon Dowey raised another subject, which was also raised by the chief constable yesterday. Too many police officers are stationed in emergency departments for entire shifts to deal with people experiencing mental health crises. We need a joined-up approach to mental health management, so that police officers do not become de facto mental health practitioners. They are not trained to do that.
I hope that Neil Gray will accept the reality that, as his party has been in office for nearly 20 years, ministers cannot default to defensiveness. Leadership means facing hard truths. It means capacity and workforce planning and dealing with the future, not just today’s crisis. We have seen the numbers for today—there are record levels of waits in A and E. We must see change; we must be grounded in realism; we must take responsibility; and, collectively, we must encourage the Government to have the courage to change course.