The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-09947, in the name of Liz Smith, on the centenary of Perth royal infirmary. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Perth Royal Infirmary on its centenary; notes that the infirmary was built between 1912 and 1914 on a site on Glasgow Road in Perth and was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary on 10 July 1914; understands that, over the 100 years, the population of Perthshire and Kinross-shire has increased significantly and that, by 2033, it is projected to increase by 27%; notes the calls for the centenary to be marked in some way; congratulates its current and former staff on what it sees as the first class health services that they have provided to the people of Perthshire and Kinross-shire over the past 100 years, and wishes the hospital well in the future.
19:20
I am grateful to the Presiding Officer and parliamentary colleagues for allowing me to secure this member’s business debate, although it was a little too late for some people to attend.
Long before I became an MSP in 2007, I became extremely aware of just what a special place Perth royal infirmary has in the hearts of many residents across Perthshire and Kinross-shire—and rightly so. The staff who have worked and who currently work at the hospital have provided first-class care—life-saving care in many cases—to the local community over the past 100 years.
Of course, 2014 is a big year for national commemorations, but it is important not to forget that many local commemorations will be taking place on 10 July, which marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of Perth royal infirmary.
Unquestionably, our public health services have come a very long way in the intervening 100 years. Life expectancy, for example, has increased from 49 and 45 years for women and men respectively at the turn of the last century to 80 and 76 for women and men today; the infant mortality rate has fallen by over 100 per 1,000 births; and if, in 1914, pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis were among the most common causes of death, they are now among the least common.
Today, on the news, we hear about a quadruple amputee being accepted for a pioneering operation in Leeds to provide her with two new hands. In the past few weeks, two of our major Scottish universities have continued to make their outstanding contributions to the provision of ground-breaking cancer treatment.
The first half of the 20th century saw major improvements in access to, and standards within, the system of public health provision, some of which built upon the Education (Scotland) Act 1908, which provided for compulsory medical inspection of schoolchildren. Major reasons for those significant improvements are not only advances in medical science and technology and better education, but the dedicated professionalism of our doctors and nurses and the vast numbers of support staff who do so much for our patients. It is to them that we pay tribute this evening.
For Perthshire, the development of a national health service saw the Perth city and county infirmary completed in 1838 by city architect William Macdonald Mackenzie. The hospital saw multiple changes but eventually proved far too small for the requirements of the growing city. James Miller was then commissioned to design a new hospital and began work in 1912 on the Glasgow Road site, two years later seeing the new Perth royal infirmary open its doors.
Perth royal infirmary was opened by King George V and Queen Mary as part of their Scotland-wide tour. Accompanied by the troopers of the Scottish Horse Guards, the royal couple paraded along County Place amidst a sea of local support. It was a time when women did not have the franchise, and there were considerable protests that day from leaflet-wielding suffragettes. Reports in some of the excellent archives held in the hospital state that a startled King George was confronted by some of the radical ladies, who latched on to the car and were unceremoniously dragged away. Fortunately, those incidents did not spoil the day too much and Perth royal infirmary was opened as planned.
The intervening 100 years have seen many changes. With health services becoming increasingly centralised as a result of the rationalisation of services at national level, there are significant challenges for PRI with regard to its future place in the community. As such, many residents across Perthshire and Kinross-shire, and many staff within PRI, have on an on-going basis expressed their concerns that the removal of services such as the maternity ward, paediatrics, pathology and weekend surgery will have a detrimental effect on the future of Perth royal infirmary as an acute district general hospital. That is something that MSPs on all sides of the chamber have fought against.
I hope that this centenary anniversary will not only celebrate the distinguished past of the hospital but reaffirm the commitment from NHS Tayside to ensure that Perth royal infirmary remains a fully-equipped acute district general hospital to serve what is a quickly growing population of Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
It is very clear that Perth royal infirmary has been a precious asset for the local community. As well as providing many local jobs and high-quality healthcare throughout its 100-year history, it has brought many people together. The centenary provides an opportunity to thank and acknowledge the staff of PRI, both past and present. The first-class medical care that is given to patients from numerous communities and backgrounds is a testament to their professionalism and dedication.
Looking to the future, we face huge challenges in the realms of providing specialised healthcare, which must reflect changing needs and changing social structures. Those challenges have been acutely felt at PRI, and we know only too well that there are deep-seated concerns among members of the local community about what that could mean for the future of the hospital, particularly as regards the availability of certain health services and staffing levels.
If the highly successful hands off PRI campaign taught us anything, it was that there is a very strong bond between the hospital and the local community, and I am sure that we are all clear that nothing must happen to undermine the ability of PRI’s staff to provide what has always been a first-class service. I thank them for that service, and I wish the hospital every success in the future.
19:26
I congratulate Liz Smith on securing the debate and giving us the opportunity to mark the centenary of Perth royal infirmary. In so doing, I pay tribute to the care that doctors, nurses and all the other staff of PRI have provided to the people of Perth, Perthshire and neighbouring Kinross-shire down through the years. I also commend the volunteers who give up their time to make the lives of patients and visitors easier as they pass through the hospital.
Perth royal infirmary grew out of the Perth city and county infirmary, which was opened in 1838 and whose elegant main building now houses Perth’s famous A K Bell library. The records for PRI show how the cost of hospital building has increased over the years. In that regard, it may interest members to note that while the cost of purchasing the land for and building the original hospital, which we now know as the A K Bell library, was a little over £6,812, the new PRI that was built in Taymount Terrace in 1914 cost £36,000. That sum was secured largely from donations, subscriptions and fundraising.
That figure can be contrasted with the £5 million that was spent on the clinical research centre that was opened in the infirmary in 2006 by the University of Dundee, in conjunction with which PRI gained teaching hospital status. The centre concentrates on chronic diseases such as asthma.
In the year in which we commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of the first world war, it is appropriate to note that, further to the hospital being constructed on the Cornhill estate between 1911 and 1914, it was pressed into use straight away as a war hospital during that conflict.
As Liz Smith said, many buildings have been added on to the hospital. In 1926-27, the maternity block was added. There were major developments in the 1960s and new wards were built into the hillside at the end of the 1970s. In the late 1980s, an extension was constructed to provide accident and emergency facilities, and a cancer care centre was established in 2007.
PRI is close to people’s hearts not because of any particular connection to any of those buildings but because of what they mean for the local provision of healthcare to the citizens of Perth, Perthshire and beyond. When maternity services were under threat in the early years of the last decade—I am sure that Liz Smith will remember that battle well—folk took to the streets in great numbers as part of the community-led hands off PRI campaign. Unfortunately, despite the wishes of the local community and the best efforts of all those who were involved in the campaign—I see that the local MSP John Swinney is here tonight; he was very much involved in that campaign, as was I, because I was the local Westminster MP for Perth at the time—consultant-led maternity services were still transferred to Ninewells hospital in Dundee.
However, a partial success was achieved in that, although at one point there was a very real threat that there would be no maternity services at all in Perth, the hands off PRI campaign secured a community maternity unit staffed by midwives. I take the opportunity to pay tribute to the women who gave up so much of their time to spearhead that fantastic community campaign, and to the midwives and all the other national health service staff for ensuring that women could still give birth at PRI. As we speak, the community maternity unit is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and I join in the congratulations to the outstanding team based there on their sterling service to women and families throughout Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
There was a period not so long ago when it seemed that the change in the way in which health services in Tayside were being provided meant that the flow of facilities was always away from Perth to Dundee. However, a number of developments in recent years have reversed that trend. The cancer care centre has been established in Perth and, following another long-standing campaign, there is now a dialysis unit providing a satellite service from Ninewells, thus enabling Perthshire kidney patients to get access to a treatment facility nearer to their homes. We must all monitor the situation and be quick to spot opportunities in the years ahead.
I say a very big thank you to everyone involved with the PRI, now and over the past 100 years, from those of us who live in Perthshire. I speak as someone who has received both in-patient and out-patient treatment at the PRI. On all occasions, the level of care has been excellent. I hope that the PRI continues to grow and develop and to serve the community for many more years to come.
19:31
I congratulate Liz Smith on securing the debate. Her motion calls for the centenary of the Perth royal infirmary to be marked, and the debate does that. I am sure, however, that there will also be other local events to celebrate the centenary.
Perth royal infirmary is a district general hospital, which embraces new practice and delivers care as close as possible to patients. It is also often the receiving hospital for accidents on the A9, a route that is widely used by many of my constituents, so it provides those of us who live in the north, too, with life-saving interventions.
The infirmary provides traditional services as well as housing new developments, such as the Macmillan hospice, which provides palliative care close to home, family and loved ones. That is crucial in someone’s final days.
District general hospitals have a pivotal role to play in providing other interventions such as dialysis and oncology, which have already been mentioned. Those services need to be provided as locally as possible. They can be provided safely in district general hospitals, meaning that patients do not have to travel long distances for them—they allow patients to be closer to home and to their family. For those who need such interventions but are still able to work, there is much less disruption to their lives and their working day. We need to move as many services as we can to those hospitals, so that patients are treated as locally—but as safely—as possible.
E-health provides a tool that makes it possible to deliver complex treatments, such as chemotherapy, locally, and it gives direct access to back-up from highly skilled clinicians. I recently saw that myself in Oban hospital, which provides chemotherapy while being in touch with the consultants down in Glasgow. If any problems arise during treatment, those in Oban have immediate back-up, and it can work with that. Those are examples of things that we can put out to district general hospitals, which make a big difference.
I pay tribute to the staff at the Perth royal infirmary, who work hard to provide high-quality care. Like many in the NHS, they are struggling because of decreasing staffing numbers. They are facing some of the most challenging times that our health service has ever known. Nurses, medical staff and hospital staff in the NHS tell me that they have never known the health service to be struggling as much as it is today in the entirety of their careers. Indeed, the chair of the British Medical Association is now adding his voice to those concerns.
We in the Labour Party are asking for a review of the NHS—a Beveridge 21—to help us deal with those challenges. We owe it to all those who use and work in the NHS to have that review, so as to ensure that we deal with those issues.
We need to celebrate the Perth royal infirmary centenary and the contribution that has been made by hospital staff to patient care in the area. We need to recognise and build on the vital role of our district general hospitals in bringing services closer to patients. I am happy to join Liz Smith in celebrating the centenary.
I also wish to celebrate the actions of the suffragettes, who used the opening of the hospital to bring to the fore the need for women’s emancipation. I wonder what they would think of this debate this evening, in which three women have spoken, led by a woman and presided over by a woman. I think that they would be pretty chuffed to know that their actions on that day had borne fruit. Given that women are the backbone of the NHS, it is very appropriate that the suffragettes used the opening of the hospital to highlight the plight of women and their fight for equality. That was a fitting tribute.
The debate, however, will be responded to by a man. I call Michael Matheson.
19:35
Like others, I offer my congratulations to Liz Smith on securing time for the debate. I have listened with real interest to members’ contributions this evening. Perth royal infirmary is a key member of the NHS Tayside family, and the Government’s ambition is that it should continue to go from strength to strength, to ensure that high-quality services and care are delivered for the people of Perth and the surrounding area.
In the course of tonight’s debate, I would like to pay tribute to the dedication and professionalism of the staff, both past and present, who work day in, day out to deliver those vital healthcare services and to make the experience of their patients as good as it can be. It is quite right that we should mark the 100-year anniversary of healthcare provision on the site and we should celebrate that. As Liz Smith said, there will be a range of planned activities including a local health fair with a special birthday cake, an exhibition of photographs and historical artefacts, a day of historical programming on Perth hospital radio, and a ceremonial re-laying of the original royal plaque by the NHS Tayside chair, Sandy Watson, which will take place on 10 July.
Members may be interested to know that the hospital is getting its very own biography. Bruce Leckie, a member of staff at NHS Tayside who previously worked at PRI, has produced a book documenting the building and the royal opening. Mr Leckie, who has kindly joined us tonight, has indicated that any profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the PRI endowment fund. On behalf of the Scottish Government, I offer my thanks to him for undertaking that piece of work and for his generous donation to the endowment fund.
In celebrating the proud history of PRI and the contribution of its current and former staff, it is important that we look ahead to the use of PRI and the provision of NHS services in NHS Tayside overall in providing 21st century healthcare to the local people. I am sure that all members recognise the challenge that is presented by an increasing and increasingly elderly population, and we are aware that that is particularly relevant in Perthshire. Members may be aware that the total population of Perth and Kinross is projected to increase by 20 per cent between 2012 and 2033, which is more than twice the national average of 8 per cent. However, the population of those aged 65 and above is projected to increase by 52 per cent in the same period, and of those aged 75 and above by 75 per cent. That is precisely why we published our equality strategy and the 2020 vision with its accompanying route map to ensure that the 2020 vision is taken forward at local level, allowing individuals to live healthier lives in their own homes or in a homely setting.
Part of the work to deliver the 2020 vision is the exciting work that is being done in the NHS Tayside area, including at PRI, with the creation of the rapid assessment model of care for unscheduled medical patient admissions, which will enable a new model of care to meet the needs of the local population. The early work on that project has been developed by listening to the views of staff and patients on what they felt would make a difference to the care environment in the hospital, including seven-day multiprofessional team working, timely patient discharge and an expansion of the role of volunteers.
However, we all know that good-quality healthcare is not just about new initiatives in themselves; at times, it is about just doing the day job really well. In emergency care, Perth royal infirmary is part of a single system of emergency care that operates across the Tayside region to ensure that patients who require urgent care are seen at the right place, at the right time, by the right person. NHS Tayside’s performance in that area is among the best in Scotland, with more than 98 per cent of patients meeting the four-hour accident and emergency standard every year since 2008-09. It is the only mainland board with such a consistent record in that area.
NHS Tayside has more than halved the size of its in-patient and day-case waiting lists by treating patients faster. The numbers have gone from 7,264 patients waiting in March 2006 to 3,031 in March 2014. We now have just over 91 per cent of patients being seen and treated within 18 weeks of first referral at March 2014, compared with only 86 per cent in the quarter ending March 2007, despite a rise in the number of in-patient and day cases of more than 5.9 per cent in 2012-13. In addition, 99 per cent of patients were waiting at 31 March 2014 for less than the 12-week standard for first out-patient consultation, compared with 87 per cent in the quarter ending in March 2007. Those figures demonstrate the quality of the care that is being delivered in NHS Tayside, including in PRI, and the dedication of the staff in helping to achieve that.
There has been significant capital investment over recent years. My colleague Annabelle Ewing referred to the palliative care cancer unit at Perth royal infirmary—a £6 million investment with Macmillan Cancer Support that was completed in 2010—which has made a real difference. In addition, £75 million was invested in the new Murray royal hospital in Perth and there is the £23 million Rohallion unit there, which is a specialist unit for those with mental health issues.
As a Government, we recognise the important and valuable role that PRI has played over the past 100 years. It is important that we recognise and celebrate that. However, we also see PRI as an important setting for the delivery of high-class, quality services going forward. As a Government, we are determined to ensure that that continues to be the case.
Meeting closed at 19:42.Previous
Decision Time