Hansard

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 care at the East Lothian community hospital in Haddington; our local GP practices in North Berwick, Dunbar or Prestonpans; or specialist treatment at the Edinburgh royal infirmary, the NHS is a safety net that we all rely on.

We all hold the national-level NHS close to our hearts. However, as we have heard, our experiences are driven by local delivery. East Lothian community hospital was fully opened in 2020, at a cost of £70 million, and it replaced the old Roodlands and Herdmanflat hospitals.

I want to speak about how the SNP is delivering for East Lothian through the three clear commitments that we have heard about: to invest in, protect and renew our NHS. I also want to talk about the challenges. We must admit that there are challenges out there—one of the challenges for East Lothian is the growing population.

On delivery investment, the NHS has been backed by the SNP Government with record funding of £22.5 billion. That includes £17.5 billion for front-line services, including more than £2.3 billion directly for NHS Lothian. There is an issue of funding for areas with rapid population growth, such as the south-east of Scotland. That issue has been raised with NHS Lothian in various forums, and I would like to discuss it with the cabinet secretary when she has got further into her role.

That investment is making a difference in East Lothian. Thanks to SNP investment, East Lothian community hospital opened in 2020, as I have said, bringing together services from the old Roodlands and Herdmanflat hospitals into a state-of-the-art facility with 60 per cent more in-patient bed capacity. It delivers better care, closer to home, for our growing communities.

I have discussed with the local NHS board the need to have accident and emergency services at East Lothian community hospital; that is another thing that I would like to take up with the cabinet secretary. We need to ease pressures on acute services by bringing more services from Edinburgh to East Lothian community hospital and maximising capacity.

Delayed discharges in East Lothian are impacted by the lack of care staff. Following the closure by the UK Government of the social care visa route, the Scottish Government has taken action. I have spoken to carers about the lack of staff, and I know that it is an issue in East Lothian, especially in the more remote areas. We must all concentrate on that issue.

On recruiting more staff, it is important to mention that Scotland has more GPs per head than elsewhere in the UK. We are expanding primary care with GP walk-in clinics and additional support for family doctors. Like many others, I support and will be campaigning for a walk-in centre in East Lothian. On GP surgeries, I mentioned the need for investment in growing communities. For example, we need new GP practices in North Berwick and the new community of Blindwells.

The Scottish Government has provided tens of millions of pounds extra to NHS Lothian, specifically to cut waiting times. In 11 months, we have already seen waiting times being cut. Other waiting lists have also fallen significantly: there have been notable reductions in those for orthopaedics, urology and general surgery.

The SNP will always protect the core principles of our NHS: it must remain comprehensive and universal, and it must be free at the point of need. Under the SNP, prescriptions, eye tests and personal care remain free. Those benefits matter enormously to families and older people across East Lothian—I heard about that when I was out campaigning. Unlike Reform and Nigel Farage, we reject any move towards privatisation or a two-tier system based on ability to pay. While others want to cut or privatise, the SNP stands firm: the NHS belongs to the people of Scotland. It is publicly owned, publicly delivered and protected for future generations.

Importantly, we must renew the NHS. Investment and protection are essential, but we must also renew and reform the NHS to meet the challenges of an ageing population, new technologies and rising demand. That is why we are shifting the balance of care. That is about treating more people closer to home through hospital at home and community diagnostics, and expanding services at our local community hospital in Haddington. As leader of East Lothian Council, I brought the hospital at home initiative to East Lothian in 2010, and it is still making a huge difference now.

We need to harness innovations such as digital booking systems and new ways to access physiotherapy and mental health support. In addition, we must put prevention at the heart of everything, which will keep people healthier for longer so that they need hospital care less often. Mental health services are being expanded, and we must continue to treat drug and alcohol harm as a public health issue.

In East Lothian, renewal means having stronger community services, better integration between health and social care and a health service that works for all our coastal towns, growing villages and rural areas. A key message that I heard from local communities was that they must be involved in deciding how we deliver and develop services.

Of course, challenges remain. Demand is high and the pressures are real, but, with record investment, falling waiting times in key areas and the incredible dedication of our NHS staff in East Lothian, we are making steady, serious progress, so let us continue to build an NHS that makes every person in East Lothian proud—one that cares for us from cradle to grave, and that our children and grandchildren can rely on.