Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 25 March 2026 [Draft]
25 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Discussions)
This year, 8,700 Scots have waited more than eight hours to be seen at accident and emergency in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area alone, and 3,141 have waited more than half a day.
I recently spoke to a constituent in Paisley who has had to pay £7,000 of his own money to get a cataract removed privately because he could not wait any longer on the national health service, and he will not be alone.
Will the minister take this opportunity in the final portfolio question time of the parliamentary session to apologise to the thousands of my constituents who have been waiting unacceptably long for treatment and are having to spend their savings to go private to get treatment?
In the same item of business
3. Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and what issues were discussed. (S6O-05703)
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Neil Gray)
SNP
Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet representatives of all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss matters ...
Neil Bibby
Lab
This year, 8,700 Scots have waited more than eight hours to be seen at accident and emergency in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area alone, and 3,141 have...
Neil Gray
SNP
Of course I apologise to anybody who has had to wait too long for treatment, but our NHS is undoubtedly turning a corner. We have had eight months in a row o...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
Members have a number of supplementary questions; they will need to be brief, as will the responses.
Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) (SNP)
SNP
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests.Scotland’s biggest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has a key role to play in ...
Neil Gray
SNP
Clare Haughey is absolutely correct. Waiting lists in Scotland continue to fall, with waits of more than 52 weeks reducing for eight months in a row. New out...
Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
It has been a privilege to be here in the Scottish Parliament for the past five years. I came into politics to stand up for patients and our hard-working nat...
Neil Gray
SNP
I do not think that we can—and nor should we—seek to draw a correlation between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde officials and the SNP. I do not know the politi...
Paul Sweeney (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
My 10-year-old constituent, Cara, was referred to child and adolescent mental health services in Glasgow in May 2023, but in March this year, her parents wer...
Neil Gray
SNP
First, my sympathies go to Mr Sweeney’s constituent. I think that the matter that he is seeking to address is a diagnostic wait, rather than a CAMHS wait; th...