Chamber and committees

All members in the chamber pay tribute to the outstanding work of health and social care workers across Scotland, but the reality is that they have been badly let down by the Scottish National Party-Green Government.

The NHS recovery plan was published more than a year ago, but things have gone from bad to worse. Only today, we heard that August’s A and E waiting times were the worst on record across every category. There are already reports of ambulances stacking up outside emergency departments, often for hours, including at Aberdeen royal infirmary in my region, and that is well before the winter months arrive.

The system is not just stretched, it is overstretched. Few people, apart from SNP members, will be reassured by the cabinet secretary’s statement, so I will put three questions to him. First, his statement mentions improved call waiting times for NHS 24. Given that, in June, one patient waited two hours, eight minutes and 15 seconds to be answered by an operator, can the cabinet secretary tell us how that will be achieved and what he considers to be an acceptable waiting time?

Secondly, there is no mention in the statement of NHS dentistry, which is at breaking point. Does the cabinet secretary realise the catastrophic impact that his funding cuts will have on the dentistry sector?

Finally, the statement mentions growing the NHS workforce through recruitment, but there is almost nothing about retention. Nursing vacancies are up by as much as 25 per cent compared with last year. Therefore, what is the Scottish Government doing to improve retention of NHS workers?

I am nearly finished. I wish that Humza Yousaf would listen to what people are telling him. His NHS recovery plan has not worked. Things have gone from bad to worse. That is no wonder, given that Audit Scotland has said:

“There is not enough detail in the plan to determine whether ambitions can be achieved in the timescales set out.”

The health secretary will be appearing before MSPs in the chamber next week to address those issues. I know that he wants to mention them now, but I ask him to please listen—I am nearly finished. I sincerely hope that he will address the issues. After months of excuses, this is an opportunity to rethink his failing recovery plan and to tell front-line staff and the public what action he will take to reduce delayed discharge, increase the number of beds, improve workforce planning and focus on staff retention.

Everyone has had enough of SNP soundbites. Humza Yousaf and his colleagues need to step up—[Interruption.]—and get a grip. Too much is at stake.

For months, the Scottish Conservatives have said that people are paying the price of Humza Yousaf’s mismanagement of Scotland’s NHS. Earlier this month, A and E waiting times hit their worst level on record. The figures that were released yesterday are only fractionally better.

The sobering reality, which the vice-chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine emphasised last week, is that emergency department delays are associated not just with patient harm but with increased mortality.

I will put that into perspective. For the 3,400 patients across Scotland who spent more than eight hours in A and E a couple of weeks ago, 40 additional lives could be lost in a single month. That is why those statistics really matter.

Let me be clear: the buck stops at Bute house. NHS staff the length and breadth of Scotland have worked tirelessly to treat their patients in recent years, often at the expense of their own wellbeing.

In July 2022—almost a year after the NHS recovery plan was unveiled—one in every 25 patients waited more than 12 hours to be seen in A and E departments across Scotland. That was the worst month since records began.

What were Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP colleagues doing in July? They were refreshing the case for separation, with the launch of the SNP’s second independence paper. That is a massive distraction from our NHS’s recovery and hardly the “sharp focus” that the First Minister pointed to during First Minister’s question time last week.

In August, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh’s A and E department was over capacity every day—not just by a handful of patients but by dozens of them. That has implications for the safety of patients and staff. However, in August, Nicola Sturgeon appeared not once or twice but five times at Edinburgh’s fringe to hobnob with Hollywood actors and polish her public relations. That tells us exactly where the First Minister’s priorities lie.

Those appalling waits occurred during the summer months, well before the pressures of winter and colder weather pile on to our NHS. In my region, the medical director for acute services at Aberdeen royal infirmary said in August that

“the system is not working because it’s not fit for purpose.”

Ambulances are already stacking outside ARI because the hospital simply does not have the capacity. Paramedics and their patients are waiting hours outside A and E, meaning that ambulances cannot be deployed elsewhere. People in the north-east are being told to present to ARI only if their condition is life threatening.

Figures that were published yesterday show that, for the quarter ending in June 2022, NHS Grampian failed to meet the 62-day standard and the 31-day standard for cancer waiting times. In addition, there are long waits for magnetic resonance imaging scans, colonoscopies and access to psychological therapies.

Meanwhile, Montrose minor injury unit has closed in Angus; Aboyne community hospital has been shut because of staffing shortages; Friockheim health centre has closed its doors because of lack of doctors; and primary care across the north-east is under impossible pressure. Many NHS services are being centralised by stealth with NHS 24 acting as the gatekeeper, with lengthy waits to speak to an operator.

Quite simply, Presiding Officer—

That is very helpful.

Before we move into private session, could we mention the inquiry into female participation in sport?

I, too, support and say thank you to the exceptional staff who work in the NHS and social care. Ms Lamb, are you nervous that the NHS will not be able to cope this winter?

We have been discussing winter planning. NHS Grampian is doing a primary care redesign pilot programme in Aberdeen city, which is about exploring doing things differently to move things on before we get to the winter planning stage. Dr Coldwells, do you have any comment on that?

We know that bed blocking is a massive issue that affects capacity. There has been an increase of 3.6 per cent in bed numbers since last year, but we are still down by, I think, 716 beds since 2014 or 2015. Will you comment on that, please?

I have a question for Alex McMahon. NHS Forth Valley has been very much in the spotlight, sadly, because of shocking A and E statistics. However, yesterday, it emerged that A and E departments were at overcapacity in every single hour of every single day in August. We are about to enter winter—it is serious that there is a massive issue. What are your thoughts on levers that can be pulled to help?

Jeff Ace and Jennifer Armstrong have mentioned the A and E logjam, but my question is for Dr Coldwells. Right now, there are reports of at least 10 ambulances waiting outside the A and E department at Aberdeen royal infirmary, and it is becoming a big logjam—in fact, it is a crisis. The public are being asked to go to A and E only if the issue is life threatening. What actions are we taking to address that now? We are facing winter, and that will exacerbate the issues. The pipe is bursting now, but there will be an explosion in winter, unless we have immediate plans and think about what we are going to put in place for A and E at ARI.