Chamber and committees

I agree with a lot of what Alex Cole-Hamilton has said, because there is a link between hospital capacity, social care capacity and ambulance demand. They are interlinked, so the Government takes a whole-system approach—that is how the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and I take those issues forward in our dialogue with the health service.

The level of delayed discharges is falling—it has come down from its peak by just short of 200 places. [John Swinney has corrected this contribution. See end of report.] It is still far too high, but it is coming down because of the investment that the Government’s budget, which Mr Cole-Hamilton supported, is putting into health and social care at a community level. The Government has intervened to support the acquisition by the public sector of care homes—one in Fort William and one in Mallaig.

There is another dimension to this matter, which Mr Cole-Hamilton and I might agree on—namely, the prevailing attitude about care staff in our country. On Monday, the message from the Prime Minister was catastrophic for the care sector in Scotland. I have never heard anything so damaging for the delivery of care in our communities. Mr Cole-Hamilton is absolutely entitled to put those questions to me, but the Prime Minister’s irresponsible statements on Monday will have huge implications for the delivery of social care here. If members want to dismiss what I am saying, perhaps they will take seriously what Dr Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, said when he suggested that our ability to deliver social care in this country has been directly damaged by the actions, language and rhetoric of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That is a disgrace.

The total forecast cost to complete the vessel has increased from £150 million to £172.5 million, with an additional risk contingency of £12.5 million. I cannot be definitive in my answer to Mr Findlay on that point because the risk contingency depends on the sequence of events that takes place during the completion of the vessel.

I make it clear to Parliament that it is unacceptable that those vessels have cost so much and that such delays have been experienced. The Government is focused on ensuring that the vessels enter service, so that we can deliver on our commitments to provide sustainable ferry services for island communities.

The Government has invested in road equivalent tariff, we have reduced ferry fares for our island communities, we are providing specific support to island communities that have been affected by disruption and we are investing in the new vessel fleet. That is this Government delivering on its commitments to support our island communities in Scotland.

—had the Government not introduced road equivalent tariff for our ferry services. We have made ferry services more affordable for people in our island communities. We are investing—[Interruption.]

It is essential that we have effective social care services in all our communities in Scotland, no matter the geography. The experience of the couple in Acharacle that Alex Cole-Hamilton cited is concerning. Of course I want people to have access to local care services. We work closely on joint work between the health service and local authorities to support the delivery of care in all our communities, which is the subject of focused work that is being done to ensure that care home provision and social care services are available in all communities around the country.

The Government has applied consistent stewardship of the public finances, which has resulted in our delivering balanced budgets for every year of the Government’s term in office, despite the enormous pressures that exist on public finances.

Mr Sarwar talked about the construction costs for prisons. I wonder whether he has looked at any data on the impact on capital costs of the energy price increases after the invasion of Ukraine. Those costs are affecting every capital project in the whole of the United Kingdom, as a consequence of those factors. That is not to mention the fact that the Barlinnie project that he cited is a larger and more extensive project than was originally conceived.

In relation to ferry services, as I indicated to Russell Findlay, the Government has invested in the ferry network to do two things: to ensure that we can acquire new capacity for the years to come—those vessels will be delivered on to the network—and to make it more affordable for people in island communities to utilise ferry services.

I say to Mr Sarwar that the Government will, at all times, invest in our ferry network, invest in our island communities and apply the stringent controls to public finances that have resulted in the Government being re-elected several times—and we intend to be re-elected again in 2026.

I remain deeply concerned about the effects of the reforms on people across Scotland, particularly those with disabilities or long-term conditions. The UK Government’s own analysis shows that the reforms will push a further 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty by the end of the decade. We will see 3.2 million families lose out because of planned changes to the universal credit health element.

The Scottish Government is taking concrete action to support disabled people in Scotland. For example, since January, we have provided support to 430,000 people through our adult disability payment and, following the national roll-out of pension-age disability payments, we are now providing support to disabled people of all ages.

NHS 24 continues to strive to improve its call-handling times. However, I apologise to anyone who has experienced an extended wait.

Calls to NHS 24 can be recorded as unanswered for a variety of reasons, not all of which are related to waiting times. Callers are offered a range of options, including signposting to NHS Inform for self-care advice or to other services that might be more clinically appropriate to meet their needs.

NHS 24’s workforce has increased by almost 50 per cent since 2014, with a record number of call handlers and clinical advisers in place, and we have increased NHS 24’s budget to a record £118.3 million this year.

I am sympathetic to the point that Claire Baker makes, and I welcome Ryan to Parliament. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice are meeting him this afternoon, which was no doubt arranged by Claire Baker. I welcome that engagement.

I commit to the Government engaging on the issue. Claire Baker makes a reasonable point about supporting families with children who are affected by a cancer diagnosis, which is a tragic and traumatising experience to have. I commit my ministers to addressing the issue.

While I am on my feet, I might say that, several years ago, Perth high school, which educates children in my constituency, lost a child to teenage cancer. A couple of weeks ago, around 400 of the young people ran in the Perth park run to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, which they do every year in memory of the young person who they lost. That is an indication of the absolute solidarity of young people on this tragic issue, and I compliment them on their activities in that respect. [Applause.]

A key issue—which relates to Dr Gulhane’s question—is that of capacity. Over time, the Government has been expanding capacity in NHS 24. As a consequence of the redesign of urgent care, we invested an additional £4 million to enable NHS 24 to recruit more staff and reduce call waiting times. That investment also supports public awareness about when to contact 111 and how to access other services.