Chamber and committees

No parent should have to contemplate that. Other than those that Anas Sarwar has just shared, I do not know the details of Harvey’s case, but I will look into that and will respond more fully.

I have heard the concerns that Dr Chris Adams expressed and I know that those have been investigated by NHS Lothian. As I understand it, those concerns are general and are not in relation to Harvey’s case in particular. They have been investigated by NHS Lothian and, this morning, I asked officials to ensure that we have more external assurance to satisfy ourselves that there is no substance to those concerns.

As we all know, the NHS is facing significant challenges, which are largely down to Covid There were pressures that predated Covid but, in most countries, the pressures on health services are down to Covid. That is why we are focusing on investment, recruitment and reform to help tackle those challenges.

Anas Sarwar cited Dr Adams’s comments on staff. We have record numbers of staff in our NHS today. Since this Government took office, staffing has gone up by 22 per cent. We have higher staffing per head than NHS England and higher numbers of nurses, midwives and doctors than in the health services of other parts of the United Kingdom. We will continue focusing hard, each and every day, on supporting our NHS so that it is delivering for all patients, including children like Harvey, every day.

As I said, I will look further into the specifics of Harvey’s case and will respond either to Anas Sarwar or directly to Harvey’s family, in due course.

To be clear, I said that, in relation to the general comments and concerns that Dr Adams has cited, although not specifically in relation to young Harvey’s case, I have asked for further external assurance to ensure that we have properly investigated those. No one is hiding behind anything.

Anas Sarwar must be one of the only people—Douglas Ross is in that category as well—who steadfastly refuses to recognise the impact of Covid on the NHS. [Interruption.] I have already referred to Dr Adams. I am not talking about Dr Adams. Week after week, Anas Sarwar stands here—[Interruption.]

The new pay offer, which, as I say, is the best pay offer to teachers in more than 20 years, will see the salaries of most teachers rise by more than £5,000 in April, if it is accepted. The 28-month deal has a cumulative value of 14.6 per cent and would mean an overall increase of more than £6,100 over two years for the 70 per cent of classroom teachers at the top of their main grade scale.

Teachers in Scotland are among the best paid anywhere in the world and they move more quickly to the top of the pay scale than those in any other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country. In terms of UK comparisons, new fully registered teachers in Scotland are the best paid anywhere in the UK.

It is a good deal and it is a fair deal, and I hope that it is accepted and that the dispute is resolved.

No, I do not accept that, but I do consider it unacceptable that any patient has to pay privately for treatment that they should—and want to—get on the national health service. That is why we continue to focus, in the ways that I have been speaking about, on bringing down waiting times, and we will continue with that focus. I know that it will be a priority for whoever succeeds me as First Minister, as it has been a priority for me every day in this job.

The targets have not been missed. The targets on reducing long waits are being met, and we need to and will go further. I know that this will get howls of objection from the Labour benches, but Jackie Baillie is trying to suggest that the challenges in our national health service are uniquely down to the fact that Scotland has an SNP Government, so let me counter that.

Jackie Baillie quoted the Private Healthcare Information Network figures, so she will not mind my also quoting the Private Healthcare Information Network figures for self-funded private care. In the second quarter of 2022, which are the most recent figures, in Wales, where Labour is in office—[Interruption.] Jackie Baillie wants to do the comparisons when it suits her.

In Wales, where Labour is in office, the number of people getting self-funded private care was, according to the Private Healthcare Information Network, 27 per cent higher than it was in Scotland. Not only that, for those opting to pay for private healthcare, the rate of increase in Wales was 21 percentage points higher than it was in Scotland.

I am responsible—this Government is responsible—for health in Scotland, but for those who want to suggest that the challenges in our national health service are uniquely down to an SNP Government, if they are Tories, they need to look at performance in England, and if they are Labour, they really need to look at performance in Wales.

Let us be clear. The UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill sets out a clear intention to remove the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom. It is utterly shameful and immoral. I can still remember a day when Labour would have opposed it tooth and nail in principle, rather than in the mealy-mouthed way in which it has been doing so.

Here is what the UN refugee agency said:

“This would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a longstanding, humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud.”

All of us, without exception, should be appalled that the Home Secretary has introduced such a bill, which she knows does not comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 and which will add to the damage that has already been inflicted on the UK’s reputation as a place of refuge, its credibility with international partners and its ability to meet its responsibilities under the refugee convention and the ECHR. It is a bill that the Scottish Government does not and will never support, and nobody who has any concern for our fellow human beings should ever support such an appalling piece of draft legislation.

I will come to the NHS in a second. Every one of the SNP politicians that Douglas Ross has mentioned has more popular and public approval than he does. I think that he is the least popular elected leader in Scotland today. My advice to him was intended to be helpful. Perhaps if he spent a bit more time looking in the mirror—[Interruption.]—

Unfortunately, I did not catch the leaders’ debate the other night, because I was on my way back from a wonderful visit to the inspirational Glasgow Women’s Library, which is a fabulous place that I recommend to everybody in the chamber.

The only verdict on my Government that really matters, of course, is the verdict from the people whom we serve—the people of Scotland. That verdict—winning no fewer than eight elections—has been pretty clear over the eight years of my leadership.

Let me remind Douglas Ross—I am trying, as I always do, to be helpful to him—why that might have been the case. Under this Government, we have seen a 20 per cent increase in national health service staff and the highest number of doctors and nurses proportionately anywhere in the United Kingdom. We have seen a doubling of the NHS budget. We have seen the best-performing accident and emergency departments anywhere in the United Kingdom for the past seven years. Scotland is the only part of the UK with no NHS strikes and the highest-paid NHS workforce anywhere on these islands. There has been a significant reduction in hospital infections, and there are £10,000 nurse bursaries at a time when the Tories in England have scrapped nurse bursaries. We have scrapped prescription charges and taken away parking charges at NHS hospitals. We are leading the way on public health measures.

Presiding Officer, I can see that you are looking at me askance. That is about just the NHS. I look forward to getting on to other topics later in this session.

I am very aware that, for Douglas Ross, mediocrity is, of course, a dizzy height that he has never come close to achieving. There is no confusion whatsoever about where Douglas Ross is in terms of government or opposition. He is in opposition now, and he will remain in opposition for a long, long time to come.

Helpfully—Douglas Ross has been very helpful today, and I am most appreciative—he has taken me into other subject matters. I will be brief, Presiding Officer.

Douglas Ross talked about crime. Let us talk about the record of my Government, which has been endorsed eight times in eight years by the Scottish people under my leadership. Crime is down by more than 48 per cent. Violent crime alone is down by 48 per cent. [Interruption.]

All three of those colleagues of mine who are vying to be my successor and vying to have the joy of First Minister’s question time every Thursday at 12 o’clock, either are or have been members of my Government, so of course they all share in the success of the Government that I am proud to lead.

I am now, by my own choice, an outgoing leader, but I will be serious for a minute here. Nobody needs a running commentary from me—certainly, nobody needs a running commentary from Douglas Ross on anything, but that is another matter. However, if I were to offer advice, first, to those who are vying to succeed me, it would be this: of course, the internal process is really important but, although it might not feel like it right now, it is the relatively easy part. Being First Minister is hard; it is tough; and it is a massive responsibility. Whoever emerges in the position of First Minister and is standing here three weeks today has one overriding task. It is to govern, and it is to serve in a way that inspires the people of Scotland to keep placing trust in us, just as they have done consistently since 2007 and just as they have done eight times over the eight years of my leadership. That is what matters, because without that trust, nothing else is possible.

Finally, to my opponents, perhaps a word to the wise as well. I cannot grudge them watching the first SNP leadership election in 20 years, because we have had lots of Tory and Labour leaderships to enjoy over those years. However, as long as they are using virtually all of their air time to talk about the SNP because they have nothing positive to offer, fundamentally the problem is not ours; the problem is theirs, because they are destined to stay exactly where they are right now—in opposition.

As I said earlier, continued focus on the part of whoever is First Minister on delivering for the people of Scotland and retaining their trust is the priority, and it should be the priority of whoever is standing here as First Minister in just three weeks’ time.

Specifically on the NHS, the NHS in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as health services across much of the world, are facing challenges, largely because of the pandemic that has afflicted us all in the past three years. However, because of the recovery plan, the record investment that we are putting into the NHS and the record number of staff that it has, we are now seeing progress in its recovery. On waiting times for out-patients, the number of people who are experiencing waits of more than a year is down by almost 9 per cent in the last quarter; and the number of people waiting for more than two years is down by 50 per cent in the last quarter, and down 60 per cent since the peak. We are seeing similar reductions in the numbers for in-patients and those who are waiting for diagnostic tests.

The number of people who are being seen in our NHS is going up. Is that tough? Yes. It is toughest of all for everyone who is working in our NHS, but our focus on the NHS is resulting in those improvements and will continue to do so.