Chamber and committees

I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing the debate to the Holyrood chamber this evening.

It is a busy period, and Parliament is debating a number of new subjects, while the news continues to carry more extraordinary stories of global instability each day. However, one topic that has never gone away concerns the quality and efficiency of accident and emergency departments in Scotland. Ever since the Scottish Government first came to power in 2007, admission times have been a constant source of difficulty for the NHS, and they have gradually got worse over time.

It seems a distant memory when it was considered poor for a health board to see fewer than 95 per cent of patients within a four-hour timeframe. However, after years of cuts and incompetence, a performance even remotely close to that would today be considered a triumph. In fact, four hours used to be pretty much the only standard by which we would measure these things. The idea that someone would wait for eight, or even 12, hours, was so far-fetched that hardly anyone even bothered to record it. As we have heard, however, all of that has changed for the worse.

I am particularly concerned about the wellbeing of casualty departments in rural areas. I understand that the big city hospitals tend to get the headlines, but the constant threats to the very existence of rural health facilities haunt people in communities outside the central belt, who are already forced to travel long distances for certain treatments and appointments. The rural nature of those communities and the appallingly poor infrastructure are additional elements that people across South Scotland have no choice but to factor in.

We know well the impact that poor A and E services has on patients. There is the short-term pain of long waits, sometimes in extremely uncomfortable settings, and the medium-term impact of those delays on their health. In addition, in the long term, the issue plays into their fears that the NHS is quite simply not there for them when they need it. There is an impact on hard-working, hospital staff, too. None of this is their fault, and it impacts their wellbeing as well. Nevertheless, they are the ones who have to front up the consequences, constantly apologising for something that is in no way a reflection of their professionalism, attitude or ability.

Hospital staff are not the only workers who are affected by the A and E crisis. Paramedics, whose job on the streets is hard enough, are often stuck at the back door, as part of the delay, when they need to be back on the front line. Police officers, too, are being dragged into the mess. Just today, we read comments from the chief constable of Police Scotland, whose patience appears to have snapped with her force being used as a mental health intervention service. She rightly points out that police officers are there to deal with matters of law and order, not to spend their shift responding to repeated mental health call-outs. That is placing incredible strain on an already stressed policing frontline.

Whatever the Scottish Government is doing in relation to accident and emergency waiting times, it is not working, and it has not worked for years. We need to know how the ministers in charge of that intend to turn the tide. A failure to do so harms pretty much everyone involved, and—as we have heard tonight—a badly performing casualty unit provokes problems not only across the rest of the hospital, but across other vital emergency services, too.

17:27

I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing the debate to the Holyrood chamber this evening.

It is a busy period, and Parliament is debating a number of new subjects, while the news continues to carry more extraordinary stories of global instability each day. However, one topic that has never gone away concerns the quality and efficiency of accident and emergency departments in Scotland. Ever since the Scottish Government first came to power in 2007, admission times have been a constant source of difficulty for the NHS, and they have gradually got worse over time.

It seems a distant memory when it was considered poor for a health board to see fewer than 95 per cent of patients within a four-hour timeframe. However, after years of cuts and incompetence, a performance even remotely close to that would today be considered a triumph. In fact, four hours used to be pretty much the only standard by which we would measure these things. The idea that someone would wait for eight, or even 12, hours, was so far-fetched that hardly anyone even bothered to record it. As we have heard, however, all of that has changed for the worse.

I am particularly concerned about the wellbeing of casualty departments in rural areas. I understand that the big city hospitals tend to get the headlines, but the constant threats to the very existence of rural health facilities haunt people in communities outside the central belt, who are already forced to travel long distances for certain treatments and appointments. The rural nature of those communities and the appallingly poor infrastructure are additional elements that people across South Scotland have no choice but to factor in.

We know well the impact that poor A and E services has on patients. There is the short-term pain of long waits, sometimes in extremely uncomfortable settings, and the medium-term impact of those delays on their health. In addition, in the long term, the issue plays into their fears that the NHS is quite simply not there for them when they need it. There is an impact on hard-working, hospital staff, too. None of this is their fault, and it impacts their wellbeing as well. Nevertheless, they are the ones who have to front up the consequences, constantly apologising for something that is in no way a reflection of their professionalism, attitude or ability.

Hospital staff are not the only workers who are affected by the A and E crisis. Paramedics, whose job on the streets is hard enough, are often stuck at the back door, as part of the delay, when they need to be back on the front line. Police officers, too, are being dragged into the mess. Just today, we read comments from the chief constable of Police Scotland, whose patience appears to have snapped with her force being used as a mental health intervention service. She rightly points out that police officers are there to deal with matters of law and order, not to spend their shift responding to repeated mental health call-outs. That is placing incredible strain on an already stressed policing frontline.

Whatever the Scottish Government is doing in relation to accident and emergency waiting times, it is not working, and it has not worked for years. We need to know how the ministers in charge of that intend to turn the tide. A failure to do so harms pretty much everyone involved, and—as we have heard tonight—a badly performing casualty unit provokes problems not only across the rest of the hospital, but across other vital emergency services, too.

17:27

I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing the debate to the Holyrood chamber this evening.

It is a busy period, and Parliament is debating a number of new subjects, while the news continues to carry more extraordinary stories of global instability each day. However, one topic that has never gone away concerns the quality and efficiency of accident and emergency departments in Scotland. Ever since the Scottish Government first came to power in 2007, admission times have been a constant source of difficulty for the NHS, and they have gradually got worse over time.

It seems a distant memory when it was considered poor for a health board to see fewer than 95 per cent of patients within a four-hour timeframe. However, after years of cuts and incompetence, a performance even remotely close to that would today be considered a triumph. In fact, four hours used to be pretty much the only standard by which we would measure these things. The idea that someone would wait for eight, or even 12, hours, was so far-fetched that hardly anyone even bothered to record it. As we have heard, however, all of that has changed for the worse.

I am particularly concerned about the wellbeing of casualty departments in rural areas. I understand that the big city hospitals tend to get the headlines, but the constant threats to the very existence of rural health facilities haunt people in communities outside the central belt, who are already forced to travel long distances for certain treatments and appointments. The rural nature of those communities and the appallingly poor infrastructure are additional elements that people across South Scotland have no choice but to factor in.

We know well the impact that poor A and E services has on patients. There is the short-term pain of long waits, sometimes in extremely uncomfortable settings, and the medium-term impact of those delays on their health. In addition, in the long term, the issue plays into their fears that the NHS is quite simply not there for them when they need it. There is an impact on hard-working, hospital staff, too. None of this is their fault, and it impacts their wellbeing as well. Nevertheless, they are the ones who have to front up the consequences, constantly apologising for something that is in no way a reflection of their professionalism, attitude or ability.

Hospital staff are not the only workers who are affected by the A and E crisis. Paramedics, whose job on the streets is hard enough, are often stuck at the back door, as part of the delay, when they need to be back on the front line. Police officers, too, are being dragged into the mess. Just today, we read comments from the chief constable of Police Scotland, whose patience appears to have snapped with her force being used as a mental health intervention service. She rightly points out that police officers are there to deal with matters of law and order, not to spend their shift responding to repeated mental health call-outs. That is placing incredible strain on an already stressed policing frontline.

Whatever the Scottish Government is doing in relation to accident and emergency waiting times, it is not working, and it has not worked for years. We need to know how the ministers in charge of that intend to turn the tide. A failure to do so harms pretty much everyone involved, and—as we have heard tonight—a badly performing casualty unit provokes problems not only across the rest of the hospital, but across other vital emergency services, too.

17:27

Scotland’s prison estate does not need to seek its troubles. Inmate numbers are at record levels, staff are reporting unprecedented challenges and prisoners are leaving without rehabilitation, going out into a world for which they are completely unprepared. What is worse, the estate itself is in deep trouble: promised new jails for Glasgow and the Highlands are years late and ludicrously over budget.

This debate focuses on yet another challenge, which is one that Scottish Government has failed miserably to address: the issue of substance misuse, which creates chaos inside prisons and places unbearable stress and pressure on hard-working prison officers.

The crisis damages the prospects of inmates, too. For many, incarceration is supposed to serve as a punishment for what they have done and to act as a deterrent from repeating that behaviour. It is also supposed to provide rehabilitation: they should have new skills, a new attitude and perhaps even an enthusiasm for a future in which they will be a well-functioning, contributing member of society. Yet the drug-taking culture in prisons is stopping much of that from happening.

The public—rightly—expect jails to be secure facilities where the only things that get in and out are approved people and products. Perhaps small errors could be accepted, but the scale of drugs and alcohol inside is eye watering. Those criminals who successfully get the contraband in seem constantly to be a step ahead of the authorities. They use drones and drug-soaked mail—essentially, they use any trick that they can to do that.

Scotland’s drug deaths crisis is well documented, but the one place where people should be absolutely free of its clutches is in a secure state facility. Many inmates turn up to prison addicted to drugs or alcohol, and their addiction probably contributed to their crime. However, one of the most worrying statistics that I heard during the inquiry is that many prisoners report developing addiction for the first time while in jail. Some surveys indicate that, on leaving prison, between one quarter and one third of them have illegal substances in their body.

How have we got to this shocking situation? Scotland’s high prison population is one reason. Bursting at the seams, the inadequate estate is staffed by fatigued and stressed-out prison officers, which creates an environment that is more likely to descend into chaos. Those pressures leave staff with less time to work on intelligence and investigate where the drugs are getting in and who is taking them. Underinvestment in activities means that prisoners are bored and driven to revisiting previous substance abuse habits.

Much of the focus is on drugs, but we should not overlook the issue of alcohol. It is thought that around a third of prisoners are alcohol dependent. They are not only offered insufficient help in jail to beat that addiction; it is too easy for them to access illicit alcohol while they are serving their sentence.

Nobody is pretending that there are easy answers to that. As the Prison Officers Association states, the system is under “pressure like never before.” The blend of prisoners—foreigners, organised criminals and ageing offenders serving sentences for historical crime—creates a nightmare.

However, there is so much more that the Scottish National Party Government could have done. Numerous solutions from a wide variety of sources are being put forward. The Scottish Prison Service is clearly understaffed and underresourced. One of the main reasons that prisoners have appointments for substance misuse issues cancelled is a lack of staff cover. There is also an inconsistent approach to things such as peer groups, which have been shown to work in various other support services. Those things will never improve unless funding improves.

Staff representatives have also come forward with ideas such as anti-drone fences around jails, which would stop a major carrier of contraband. Perhaps the SNP Government could break the habit of a lifetime and start working with the United Kingdom Government to seek nationwide solutions to the problems. The Prison Officers Association has been clear that many of these things are not being pursued “because of funding constraints.”

The Scottish Government has not listened to the people who know best, and its attitude has been lax and complacent. That is why we are where we are today. The Government must urgently restore control in Scotland’s prisons or the whole of society will continue to pay a heavy price.

16:05

::To ask the Scottish Government how people who are concerned with the impact on the natural environment of energy infrastructure can make their concerns known. (S6O-05573)

::Scotland’s prison estate does not need to seek its troubles. Inmate numbers are at record levels, staff are reporting unprecedented challenges and prisoners are leaving without rehabilitation, going out into a world for which they are completely unprepared. What is worse, the estate itself is in deep trouble: promised new jails for Glasgow and the Highlands are years late and ludicrously over budget.

This debate focuses on yet another challenge, which is one that Scottish Government has failed miserably to address: the issue of substance misuse, which creates chaos inside prisons and places unbearable stress and pressure on hard-working prison officers.

The crisis damages the prospects of inmates, too. For many, incarceration is supposed to serve as a punishment for what they have done and to act as a deterrent from repeating that behaviour. It is also supposed to provide rehabilitation: they should have new skills, a new attitude and perhaps even an enthusiasm for a future in which they will be a well-functioning, contributing member of society. Yet the drug-taking culture in prisons is stopping much of that from happening.

The public—rightly—expect jails to be secure facilities where the only things that get in and out are approved people and products. Perhaps small errors could be accepted, but the scale of drugs and alcohol inside is eye watering. Those criminals who successfully get the contraband in seem constantly to be a step ahead of the authorities. They use drones and drug-soaked mail—essentially, they use any trick that they can to do that.

Scotland’s drug deaths crisis is well documented, but the one place where people should be absolutely free of its clutches is in a secure state facility. Many inmates turn up to prison addicted to drugs or alcohol, and their addiction probably contributed to their crime. However, one of the most worrying statistics that I heard during the inquiry is that many prisoners report developing addiction for the first time while in jail. Some surveys indicate that, on leaving prison, between one quarter and one third of them have illegal substances in their body.

How have we got to this shocking situation? Scotland’s high prison population is one reason. Bursting at the seams, the inadequate estate is staffed by fatigued and stressed-out prison officers, which creates an environment that is more likely to descend into chaos. Those pressures leave staff with less time to work on intelligence and investigate where the drugs are getting in and who is taking them. Underinvestment in activities means that prisoners are bored and driven to revisiting previous substance abuse habits.

Much of the focus is on drugs, but we should not overlook the issue of alcohol. It is thought that around a third of prisoners are alcohol dependent. They are not only offered insufficient help in jail to beat that addiction; it is too easy for them to access illicit alcohol while they are serving their sentence.

Nobody is pretending that there are easy answers to that. As the Prison Officers Association states, the system is under “pressure like never before.” The blend of prisoners—foreigners, organised criminals and ageing offenders serving sentences for historical crime—creates a nightmare.

However, there is so much more that the Scottish National Party Government could have done. Numerous solutions from a wide variety of sources are being put forward. The Scottish Prison Service is clearly understaffed and underresourced. One of the main reasons that prisoners have appointments for substance misuse issues cancelled is a lack of staff cover. There is also an inconsistent approach to things such as peer groups, which have been shown to work in various other support services. Those things will never improve unless funding improves.

Staff representatives have also come forward with ideas such as anti-drone fences around jails, which would stop a major carrier of contraband. Perhaps the SNP Government could break the habit of a lifetime and start working with the United Kingdom Government to seek nationwide solutions to the problems. The Prison Officers Association has been clear that many of these things are not being pursued “because of funding constraints.”

The Scottish Government has not listened to the people who know best, and its attitude has been lax and complacent. That is why we are where we are today. The Government must urgently restore control in Scotland’s prisons or the whole of society will continue to pay a heavy price.

16:05

::My inbox is flooded with emails from constituents raising concerns about the lack of transparency during the consultation process for energy projects, with little to no consideration given to the needs of local residents. That situation has only been exacerbated by the decision to remove the right to object to the energy consents unit by email. I am informed by constituents that there are several issues with the new portal, which is making it harder for elderly residents, in particular, to make their voices heard.

Will the cabinet secretary commit to improving transparency in the consenting process, and will she guarantee that, in the future, energy projects will proceed only with the express consent of local communities?

::Scotland’s prison estate does not need to seek its troubles. Inmate numbers are at record levels, staff are reporting unprecedented challenges and prisoners are leaving without rehabilitation, going out into a world for which they are completely unprepared. What is worse, the estate itself is in deep trouble: promised new jails for Glasgow and the Highlands are years late and ludicrously over budget.

This debate focuses on yet another challenge, which is one that Scottish Government has failed miserably to address: the issue of substance misuse, which creates chaos inside prisons and places unbearable stress and pressure on hard-working prison officers.

The crisis damages the prospects of inmates, too. For many, incarceration is supposed to serve as a punishment for what they have done and to act as a deterrent from repeating that behaviour. It is also supposed to provide rehabilitation: they should have new skills, a new attitude and perhaps even an enthusiasm for a future in which they will be a well-functioning, contributing member of society. Yet the drug-taking culture in prisons is stopping much of that from happening.

The public—rightly—expect jails to be secure facilities where the only things that get in and out are approved people and products. Perhaps small errors could be accepted, but the scale of drugs and alcohol inside is eye watering. Those criminals who successfully get the contraband in seem constantly to be a step ahead of the authorities. They use drones and drug-soaked mail—essentially, they use any trick that they can to do that.

Scotland’s drug deaths crisis is well documented, but the one place where people should be absolutely free of its clutches is in a secure state facility. Many inmates turn up to prison addicted to drugs or alcohol, and their addiction probably contributed to their crime. However, one of the most worrying statistics that I heard during the inquiry is that many prisoners report developing addiction for the first time while in jail. Some surveys indicate that, on leaving prison, between one quarter and one third of them have illegal substances in their body.

How have we got to this shocking situation? Scotland’s high prison population is one reason. Bursting at the seams, the inadequate estate is staffed by fatigued and stressed-out prison officers, which creates an environment that is more likely to descend into chaos. Those pressures leave staff with less time to work on intelligence and investigate where the drugs are getting in and who is taking them. Underinvestment in activities means that prisoners are bored and driven to revisiting previous substance abuse habits.

Much of the focus is on drugs, but we should not overlook the issue of alcohol. It is thought that around a third of prisoners are alcohol dependent. They are not only offered insufficient help in jail to beat that addiction; it is too easy for them to access illicit alcohol while they are serving their sentence.

Nobody is pretending that there are easy answers to that. As the Prison Officers Association states, the system is under “pressure like never before.” The blend of prisoners—foreigners, organised criminals and ageing offenders serving sentences for historical crime—creates a nightmare.

However, there is so much more that the Scottish National Party Government could have done. Numerous solutions from a wide variety of sources are being put forward. The Scottish Prison Service is clearly understaffed and underresourced. One of the main reasons that prisoners have appointments for substance misuse issues cancelled is a lack of staff cover. There is also an inconsistent approach to things such as peer groups, which have been shown to work in various other support services. Those things will never improve unless funding improves.

Staff representatives have also come forward with ideas such as anti-drone fences around jails, which would stop a major carrier of contraband. Perhaps the SNP Government could break the habit of a lifetime and start working with the United Kingdom Government to seek nationwide solutions to the problems. The Prison Officers Association has been clear that many of these things are not being pursued “because of funding constraints.”

The Scottish Government has not listened to the people who know best, and its attitude has been lax and complacent. That is why we are where we are today. The Government must urgently restore control in Scotland’s prisons or the whole of society will continue to pay a heavy price.

16:05

::To ask the Scottish Government how people who are concerned with the impact on the natural environment of energy infrastructure can make their concerns known. (S6O-05573)

::My inbox is flooded with emails from constituents raising concerns about the lack of transparency during the consultation process for energy projects, with little to no consideration given to the needs of local residents. That situation has only been exacerbated by the decision to remove the right to object to the energy consents unit by email. I am informed by constituents that there are several issues with the new portal, which is making it harder for elderly residents, in particular, to make their voices heard.

Will the cabinet secretary commit to improving transparency in the consenting process, and will she guarantee that, in the future, energy projects will proceed only with the express consent of local communities?