Chamber and committees

I will come back in briefly. It is helpful to hear about the context of what is being looked at. However, would the minister also be willing to share whatever information she has gathered on, for example, the specific act to which I referred?

I thank Emma Harper for that important intervention. That is absolutely crucial. We know that, over many years, the media have got it wrong, and Emma Harper is right to raise that point about the images that are used around drug use, particularly those of syringes, spoons and so on. There is also an issue around the language that is used. Emma Harper spoke earlier about educating people, about the words that we use and about how we refer to people, trying to look at everyone as a human being, seeing and respecting their innate dignity. That is absolutely important, and it is something that we would all want to reflect on and encourage all parts of our society to move forward with.

We have heard contributions today about the importance of the voluntary sector and the organisations that are embedded in communities delivering vital support to help people with addiction. Alex Cole-Hamilton was right to refer to the many campaigners and community organisations that work in this space, including on the provision of safe consumption.

Stuart McMillan mentioned Moving On Inverclyde, which I know is extremely important to him. He has served on its board for many years. I had the pleasure of visiting Moving On Inverclyde in the summer. It is a community-based support service that helps people who have been affected by problematic drug use. Speaking to people over a cup of tea about their lived experience and their journey was hugely powerful for me and, in many ways, it helped to open my mind to the different experiences that people have. I am sure that Stuart McMillan will continue to work with Moving On Inverclyde for many years, and I hope to work with him in that regard.

It is clear that our third sector needs more support. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has revealed that third sector and voluntary organisations are facing funding crises when it comes to the support that they can offer, and we need to ensure that they can keep the lights on and the doors open so that they can offer that vital support.

I think that that is true, more broadly, of public services. My colleague Michael Marra spoke powerfully about the need to ensure that people feel respected and valued, that they are met as human beings and that they are not perceived simply on the basis of their frailties or their failures, because they often feel stigmatised in that space. Crucially, we must have public services that are person centred and person focused.

Miles Briggs made an important contribution about housing. The principle of housing first is right, but that cannot be only a headline; there needs to be meaningful support behind that, to ensure that people are not stigmatised where they live. I am sure that we all know from our casework that concerns can be raised about extremely problematic language in that space.

I am conscious of time. If we are all serious about tackling the drug crisis in Scotland, we must take a public health approach. We need a response that meets the need that exists, that mobilises finance and resources quickly to meet the challenges and that acknowledges the scale of the emergency. At its heart, we need a response that puts compassion and humanity at its core.

That is helpful. I am keen to ensure that the minister reviews that matter. I am not trying to catch her out or to add to what is an important piece of work, but it is important that we capture those other aspects, so that we can ensure that all our resource is focused. That is particularly important with regard to the resources that are available to communities for work on the broader associated issues, including accidents that are related to drug use and personal safety. Does the minister want to add anything on that?

The figures on drug deaths focus on overdose, and much of our approach has been focused on that. However, it is clear that there are other drug-related issues that can lead to deaths, not least of which are issues such as HIV, hepatitis C, cardiovascular problems and end-of-life liver and lung disease. My understanding is that we do not capture the data with regard to such deaths, so what are your reflections on how we might collect some of that data to ensure that we push the resources to the right places?

Would Dr Gulhane accept that consumption facilities can take many forms and can be based around the community supports that I mentioned? There is a holistic model whereby people can receive different levels of support and use a safe consumption facility.

Primary care is the front door of our national health service. It is the cornerstone that allows intervention as early as possible to ensure that people can be successfully treated in the community. It refers people to the support that they need in the right place, and it should be able to do that at the right time. It is that early intervention that keeps people out of hospital by diagnosing, referring or treating them before their condition deteriorates. It is a vital service that people have trusted over many years.

Our relationship with our GP is crucial in all of our lives, and supporting general practice is crucial to reducing pressure on acute and emergency services. However, a survey from the British Medical Association has revealed that four in every five—more than 80 per cent—of GP practices in Scotland have reported that demand for their service is exceeding their capacity and almost half have reported that the level of demand for their service is substantially exceeding capacity.

As colleagues have said, I am not alone in looking at my mailbox and seeing that it is full of people who are struggling to see their GP and full of GPs who feel at their wits’ end trying to do the job that they love fully. Indeed, Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA Scottish GPs committee, issued a stark warning by saying that the situation in primary care is at a “tipping point” because of the Government’s decision to slash funding for GP practices by £65 million.

The target to recruit 800 GPs by 2027 is short of what is required, and it kicks the issue down the road. The SNP has had 15 years to get NHS workforce planning right, but it has failed miserably year after year.

Of course, it is important that we look at the needs of every community in Scotland, but it is clear that the issues go far beyond that and that we need sustained investment.

For 15 years, there has been a lack of a strategic plan on NHS staffing not only for GPs but across acute settings and all other healthcare settings.

The cabinet secretary did not want to hear that from his colleague.

Our NHS is on its knees and its front-line staff are suffering. They have had enough of the failing health secretary not listening to what they need. That is why the RCN is striking for the first time in its history and why Scottish Ambulance Service staff, including paramedics, are striking for the first time in over 30 years. The cabinet secretary should deliver

“A decent and acceptable pay rise for NHS and social care staff”,

which

“is essential, not just to avoid strikes but to retain and recruit the staff we need to make essential improvements to our health service”

Those are not my words; they are the words of another former SNP cabinet secretary, Alex Neil. Perhaps the health secretary should heed the advice of his former colleague and get back round the table and listen to what staff are telling him, because it is clear that the health secretary had lost the confidence of front-line staff, patients and their families. His record speaks for itself in comparison to those of his predecessors, and he has no idea, plan or support to offer.

Patients and staff deserve so much better than this Government and this cabinet secretary.

The First Minister committed to the build back better approach for Scotland as we recover from Covid, but what has happened to that ambition? We need investment and support for people whose lives have been fundamentally affected by the pandemic. The Office for National Statistics estimates that there are more than 170,000 people across Scotland who are living with long Covid, yet the support from the Scottish Government to date has been inadequate. The Scottish Government committed £3 million in funding when the number of Scots with long Covid was estimated to be 70,000 people. Even that has not yet been fully allocated. Funding has not increased—

Will the Deputy First Minister commit to working across Government to protect funding for long Covid sufferers in Scotland to help their recovery with access to physiotherapy and multidisciplinary rehab?