Chamber
Plenary, 14 Dec 2000
14 Dec 2000 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Health Care
I cannot give way, as I have only five minutes.
The Executive amendment refers to "record amounts". That is the way in which the Executive often seeks to rebut criticism. However, time and again the Minister for Health and Community Care—who has not bothered to turn up for today's debate—says that it is not just about money. It must then be about policy—or does this minister think that she is always right when it comes to policy? Clearly she thinks so when it comes to community care, even though the First Minister spins otherwise.
In October the previous Deputy Minister for Community Care failed to stick to his reassuring guarantees to the coalition about personal care. I hope that the plan will finally commit the Executive to implementing Stewart Sutherland's recommendations. As I have already said, the First Minister seems keen on that. For more than three weeks, he has alluded to a Government climbdown. "Oh no, he doesn't," says the Minister for Health and Community Care, but "Oh yes, he does," says The Sunday Times. "Oh no, he won't," says The Sun. That makes the Minister for Health and Community Care look as if she is part of a Christmas pantomime. All the time, patient care is getting worse.
To satisfy the Conservatives, the SNP and the coalition partners, I ask Susan Deacon or the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care to state whether they are fundamentally opposed to Sutherland's key recommendation on personal care. If the deputy minister is not opposed to it, will he give us a commitment to adopt it at some point before the next election? At the same time, will he make it quite clear who is in charge of health policy in Scotland? Is it the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, the Minister for Health and Community Care, the First Minister or Jack McConnell?
The Liberal Democrats have no doubt noticed our amendment. All that we look for is a simple commitment. I know that in partnership there are pressures on Liberal Democrat members, but they should value themselves more. Can they see the Labour party breaking up a coalition over care and people who need it? Imagine the headlines. I call on Liberal Democrat members to flex their muscles. Partnership is supposed to work both ways.
There is no doubt that people have been let down by the Executive. Its answer to failing to meet targets is to change them. Its answer to real problems is to spin them. Its answer to criticism is arrogant stonewalling.
Focus groups are no substitute for creative policy making. Spin must not be better than substance. The plan is overdue. It will work only if it lands at the feet of the people in the front line of the health services. The plan will be useless if it stops a few feet above everyone's head, as so many have before, and will do nothing to change the fortunes of our health service. Any plan requires leadership at the basic level; to be part of it, the hospital porter has to understand the plan and change with it as much as the chief executive of a health board does.
The sad thing is the plan's timing. It is an admission of failure by Labour after three years in government. Plans should come before battle, not after it.
I urge members to back our amendment.
The Executive amendment refers to "record amounts". That is the way in which the Executive often seeks to rebut criticism. However, time and again the Minister for Health and Community Care—who has not bothered to turn up for today's debate—says that it is not just about money. It must then be about policy—or does this minister think that she is always right when it comes to policy? Clearly she thinks so when it comes to community care, even though the First Minister spins otherwise.
In October the previous Deputy Minister for Community Care failed to stick to his reassuring guarantees to the coalition about personal care. I hope that the plan will finally commit the Executive to implementing Stewart Sutherland's recommendations. As I have already said, the First Minister seems keen on that. For more than three weeks, he has alluded to a Government climbdown. "Oh no, he doesn't," says the Minister for Health and Community Care, but "Oh yes, he does," says The Sunday Times. "Oh no, he won't," says The Sun. That makes the Minister for Health and Community Care look as if she is part of a Christmas pantomime. All the time, patient care is getting worse.
To satisfy the Conservatives, the SNP and the coalition partners, I ask Susan Deacon or the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care to state whether they are fundamentally opposed to Sutherland's key recommendation on personal care. If the deputy minister is not opposed to it, will he give us a commitment to adopt it at some point before the next election? At the same time, will he make it quite clear who is in charge of health policy in Scotland? Is it the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, the Minister for Health and Community Care, the First Minister or Jack McConnell?
The Liberal Democrats have no doubt noticed our amendment. All that we look for is a simple commitment. I know that in partnership there are pressures on Liberal Democrat members, but they should value themselves more. Can they see the Labour party breaking up a coalition over care and people who need it? Imagine the headlines. I call on Liberal Democrat members to flex their muscles. Partnership is supposed to work both ways.
There is no doubt that people have been let down by the Executive. Its answer to failing to meet targets is to change them. Its answer to real problems is to spin them. Its answer to criticism is arrogant stonewalling.
Focus groups are no substitute for creative policy making. Spin must not be better than substance. The plan is overdue. It will work only if it lands at the feet of the people in the front line of the health services. The plan will be useless if it stops a few feet above everyone's head, as so many have before, and will do nothing to change the fortunes of our health service. Any plan requires leadership at the basic level; to be part of it, the hospital porter has to understand the plan and change with it as much as the chief executive of a health board does.
The sad thing is the plan's timing. It is an admission of failure by Labour after three years in government. Plans should come before battle, not after it.
I urge members to back our amendment.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid):
SNP
The next item of business is a Scottish National Party debate on motion S1M-1453, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on health and community care, and two amend...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Later this morning, the Minister for Health and Community Care will make a statement to Parliament on the health plan...
Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab):
Lab
On a point of order. We must draw a line between what is a statement and what is a non-specific comment. Anyone who heard the minister on "Good Morning Scotl...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
To Tricia Marwick I would say that Sir David Steel has repeatedly made it clear that Government proposals should be announced to Parliament before being unle...
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I will begin by placing on record the fact that this is the second Opposition debate on health and community care within a few weeks that Susan Deacon has no...
Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con):
Con
And one who is asking whether Ms Sturgeon has a solution to something. Do the nationalists have a plan to make better use of the private sector care homes th...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
If David Davidson cares to wait, all will be revealed. That is a promise on which I will deliver.In 1999, the pledge was to bring down the time that patients...
Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
Will the member give way?
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Not just now.Of course, Ms Deacon will argue that that was not her pledge, but London Labour's pledge, and that it was all Tony Blair's fault. However, her p...
Mr Raffan:
LD
Ms Sturgeon focuses once again on waiting lists, yet her predecessor, Mrs Ullrich, said that focusing on waiting lists was crude. Will the SNP make its mind ...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
The SNP was not elected on a pledge to reduce waiting lists; that Labour lot was. As an Opposition party, we will hold Labour to account on that pledge.Let m...
Mr Davidson rose—
Con
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Not just now. Scotland wants—and expects to see—a substantial and detailed blueprint for change, a set of proposals and initiatives that will tackle real pro...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
There is a discrepancy between the list of members who wish to speak that I have been given, and the information on my screen. I ask any member who wishes to...
The Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (Malcolm Chisholm):
Lab
As I emphasised in the previous debate on health and community care, we recognise and are acting on the problem of delayed discharges. As Susan Deacon will a...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Is the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care denying that there are now fewer nurses, fewer beds and longer waiting lists in Scotland than there were...
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
I am dealing with exactly those issues: beds first, then nurses, then waiting.A consequence of the trend that I have outlined is that fewer NHS beds are requ...
Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
The Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care says that there has been a transfer of resources from the NHS to social work, but is not it the case that m...
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
We are building up services in the community and that is precisely what I am about to address. I want to continue without interruption because there is a lot...
Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Will the minister give way?
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
I must press on as I have only five minutes.The NHS and local authorities are using the extra resources to work together and develop joint, long-term solutio...
Shona Robison:
SNP
Will the minister give way?
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
I am sorry but I do not have time to take interventions.We have been taken to task this morning on nurse numbers. It is true that total nursing staff numbers...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Will the member give way?
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
I am sorry, but I have only three minutes left.The trends are even better in relation to nursing students. The number of nursing and midwifery students has i...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Will the member give way?
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
No. I would love to give way for the rest of the day, but I have less than two minutes.From the point of view of the person on the waiting list, there is no ...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
Indeed, we have a grand Parliament—we are gathered together to discuss a Scottish health plan about which we know nothing. The plan was delivered about five ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
I would advise the member to speak to the motion.
Mary Scanlon:
Con
Why do we need a health plan? Precisely because, as the motion states, there are 3,000 blocked beds, waiting lists are rising by 15 per cent a year—in the pa...