Hansard

I very much welcome the opportunity today to give my first speech in my new role as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care. I commit to the Parliament that I will do absolutely everything in my power to protect, renew and reform our national health service, which is our most precious asset. That demands that I work hand in hand not only with our exceptional health and care workforce and partners but with members across the chamber to address local issues and improve the health of our nation.

I take this opportunity to thank my friend and colleague Neil Gray for the focused leadership that he has shown over the past two years, which has seen our NHS turn a corner. Mr Gray and I will continue to work together on matters that require joint action between the worlds of health and justice. I also very much thank my good friend Jenni Minto for her pioneering work on the women’s health plan. People will be aware that Scotland was the first country in the United Kingdom to deliver a women’s health plan. That work will now be progressed by Maree Todd, who has always been a champion for women’s health, whether as an MSP or as a pharmacist.

Before I provide an update on progress, I note my support for the amendment that was lodged by Miles Briggs, which—although it was not accepted by the Presiding Officer—rightly highlighted the importance of high-quality, accessible palliative care and the vital role that hospices and community services play for people and families across Scotland. I commit to working constructively with the member on the issue in order to ensure cross-party input on the future of palliative care.

I support the sentiment of the Greens’ amendment. We will introduce a workforce plan on pay. I very much recognise that pay is a barrier to people entering the social care workforce, and I am determined that we will do more to improve pay and terms and conditions. However, the budget is set for this year, and to increase the minimum rate to £15 an hour now would cost around £325 million. We remain open to negotiating with the Greens ahead of the next budget, but the reality for this year is that cuts would have to be made elsewhere in our NHS in order to deliver such an increase, which is why we cannot support the Greens’ amendment today.

I support the policy of mandatory sectoral bargaining, but we are constrained by the reserved nature of employment law. We will support the UK Government’s Employment Rights Act 2025 when it comes forward for legislative consent. In the meantime, our support for the policy is why, in March, we introduced plans for voluntary sectoral bargaining, which the Greens have called for. We are already working with partners on that. I also support improvements to terms and conditions, including measures such as enhanced maternity leave provision and protection of vulnerable groups checks. More broadly, the Government this year supported providers to deliver the real living wage, and we were clear that support was conditional on providers upholding our fair work principles.

I hope that the measures that I have set out provide an indication to colleagues of my keenness to work together with them, and I ask that they support the Government’s motion today.

I say to the Liberal Democrats that I will make a statement on maternity services next week. I say to Reform UK that I do not support the establishment of a health and social care commission, because the public are telling us that we need to focus on delivery right now. I say to my colleagues in the Labour Party—particularly Jackie Baillie—that, although their amendment is not the worst that I have seen from the Labour Party, I had hoped that we could perhaps start on a slightly more positive note. However, we will work on that together, because that is what the public demand of us all.

Turning to the substance of today’s debate, I note that, as we will all recall, the pandemic was one of the greatest challenges that the NHS has ever faced. The system responded with remarkable dedication to the immediate crisis and to the journey of recovery. Therefore, it is right that I begin by recording my sincere thanks to all health and care staff for the incredible work that they do.

Today, I had the pleasure of visiting the NHS Golden Jubilee hospital, where the commitment was clear to see. The hospital has now become the UK’s largest centre for hip and knee operations. My visit also allowed me the opportunity to speak to patients. Although I absolutely recognise that some people are still waiting longer than any of us would like, I am hearing about the progress that we are making, which is having a real impact on patients and their families.

I am also hearing about the creative solutions that are being used to ensure that patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time. That includes expanding our innovative hospital at home programme by the end of this year so that it becomes Scotland’s largest hospital, as well as harnessing digital advances such as artificial intelligence to speed up lung cancer detection in Grampian.

NHS leaders are spearheading a new subnational planning approach, which has already resulted in better collaboration and a sharper focus on shared priorities. That represents a material shift in how we think about population-based planning and delivery. The approach will result in health boards across the east and west of the country working together to develop and deliver services jointly, which will help by more effectively directing and sharing resources, reducing duplication of effort and improving equity of access. The approach underpins the transformation that we need by shifting care closer to home, focusing more on prevention and inequalities, and better aligning resources with needs—for example, during periods of increased demand such as the flu season.