Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2026 [Draft]
03 Jun 2026 · S7 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
National Health Service
I join other members in thanking NHS staff, including maternity services across rural communities, particularly in Galloway, where they are under pressure. If reform and renewal are to mean anything to families, the cabinet secretary must ensure that there is real progress at pace. In January, the Government said that Stranraer would be among the first rural areas targeted by the new maternity and neonatal task force, yet women in Wigtownshire have seen no change and there are still no planned births at Galloway community hospital, which results too often in a 70-mile dash to Dumfries. What has changed for families in Galloway since Stranraer was defined as a priority? When does the Government expect to report on and provide clarity on maternity services, particularly in Stranraer?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Clare Adamson)
SNP
Good afternoon. Our first item of business is a debate on motion S7M-00228, in the name of Angela Constance, on investing, protecting and renewing Scotland’s...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care (Angela Constance)
SNP
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 ...
Andrew Baxter (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (LD)
LD
The cabinet secretary has spoken about working collaboratively and moving care closer to home. How does she intend to implement the recommendations of the Ri...
Angela Constance
SNP
I very much appreciate Mr Baxter’s intervention. I have been advised that significant progress has been made, but I will want to test that, and I would welco...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
I join other members in thanking NHS staff, including maternity services across rural communities, particularly in Galloway, where they are under pressure. I...
Angela Constance
SNP
I very much appreciate Finlay Carson’s contribution, and I assure him that what he touches on is an important issue for every minister—for me, Maree Todd and...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland and Lothians West) (Reform)
Reform
The cabinet secretary may not have the answer to this question yet, because she is new to the job, but when can we expect to see an NHS app with functionalit...
Angela Constance
SNP
I will come to that very issue in a moment—there is some important progress for us to update the Parliament on. I hope that it will reassure Mr Simpson in re...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Clare Adamson)
SNP
I call Helen McDade to make their first speech.14:21
Helen McDade (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Reform)
Reform
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I congratulate you on your new role, and I thank the cabinet secretary for her speech and congratulate her on her new ro...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Clare Adamson)
SNP
I call Jackie Baillie.14:32
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Interruption. Oh! Did I make that noise with the microphone?I will start the debate on a consensual note. I very much welcome A...
Angela Constance
SNP
Does Ms Baillie agree that reform is necessary and not optional? Does she also agree that it is right to implement innovation? People who have busy working l...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I absolutely agree that we need innovation and to be able to move forward, and that it is not a case of putting one thing against another. However, we have n...
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Neil Gray)
SNP
Made a request to intervene.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Neil Gray is the past health secretary—he can sit down.
Neil Gray
SNP
She knows what I am going to say.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Perhaps he should listen.A recent survey by the Royal College of Nursing found that seven in 10 nurses felt that staffing levels on their last shift were bel...
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
I welcome the cabinet secretary and her ministers to their new roles.I begin by recognising the extraordinary dedication of our health and social care worker...
Miles Briggs (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Con)
Con
I welcome the cabinet secretary to her new role in government, and I look forward to working with her in that role. The cabinet secretary and I, as Lothian M...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Clare Adamson)
SNP
We come to the last of the opening speeches. I call David Green to make their first speech.14:56
David Green (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (LD)
LD
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I congratulate you on your election, and all other members on theirs.Like many new MSPs, I will begin by putting on reco...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Katy Clark)
Lab
We move to the open debate. I call David Linden, who is making his first speech in the Parliament.15:02
David Linden (Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
I pay tribute to the previous speaker, Mr Green, and associate myself with his words that referenced the spirit in which Jim Wallace both legislated and serv...
David Smith (West Scotland) (Reform)
Reform
My speech today will be limited to social care due to the scale of what we are talking about. I start by thanking all the NHS staff, local authority staff an...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I would not be opposed to the legislation that David Smith has suggested, but there would be a quicker way: the Government could give staff sufficient resour...
David Smith
Reform
I would, and I will come to that point.Thirty minutes is generally considered by a lot of campaigners to be a reasonable amount of time for a visit, and the ...
Heather Anderson (Dundee City West) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on protecting and renewing our NHS. I congratulate Angela Constance on her appointment as the Cabinet ...
Paul McLennan (East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs) (SNP)
SNP
Scotland’s NHS is one of our greatest achievements. In East Lothian, the service looks after our families every single day. Whether through the outstanding c...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Katy Clark)
Lab
I call Joe Long to make a first speech.15:30