Chamber and committees

We have already met that target—we are ahead of schedule on it by two years, I think. That has already been delivered within this parliamentary session.

The staff are key to the health service, and it is important that we provide them with the financial recognition for the important role that they play. That is why, in the past financial year, we have progressed our agenda for change commitments; it also accounts for how we have engaged with staff on pay negotiations. The pay increase inevitably creates financial stress in, and challenge for, the system, but it is critical that we do that, because staff are key to the delivery of our health services. The increase will have to be met within the existing budget allocations that are set out in the 2024-25 budget.

On social care, a key aim of our additional investment of over £800 million in the past couple of years is helping to address the pay issues in social care settings. We know that pay is a major challenge when it comes to recruiting into social care, and we also know that social care is critical to the performance of our NHS. Therefore, if we want our health and social care system to function effectively, we must ensure that we provide resources where we can to pay staff for their important role. That is the approach that we have taken on negotiations and through the agenda for change programme in relation to pay for health and social care staff.

Good morning.

I do not think that you would ever get a cabinet secretary for health to say that they would not want more resource to invest in the health and social care system. In the light of our very challenging budget settlement, we have achieved the best possible outcome that we can for the health and social care budget.

Notwithstanding that, efficiencies and savings will have to be made for us to live within the budget settlement that we have and the growing demand that we face. I think that this is the best outcome that we can achieve in challenging financial circumstances; however, there will be continued challenges for the health and social care system even with this budget.

One is continued investment in our NHS recovery, including in prevention, with a particular focus on primary care. Another is continued investment in mental health services, to ensure that they meet the needs of citizens across the country. Another is continued investment in social care, to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to give it greater resilience, particularly by way of recruitment into the workforce, which is critical to supporting our NHS.

I am sorry—I missed the first part of your question.

Before I bring in Ms Minto, I should say that a range of work is being taken forward by boards through the long Covid treatment pathways, which are being delivered as part of the £10 million that we have made available for long Covid services. I think that nine of our health boards have their long Covid treatment pathways in place, and around five are still developing them.

For example, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s long Covid service allows general practitioners to make direct referrals of patients for assessment and for appropriate treatment options to be made available. We have also allowed boards to design services that best reflect their local circumstances and what they believe to be most appropriate for patients in their areas.

A range of services is available, but one of the challenges has been to ensure that clinicians know that such services are available to refer patients to. Some of our boards have therefore been undertaking work with colleagues across general practice to ensure that they are aware of how patients can be referred directly to these services. Some will also accept self-referrals from patients for assessment and for an appropriate treatment programme to be put in place that reflects their individual circumstances.

I do not know whether Ms Minto, who leads on some of this area of work, has anything more to say.

It will take a holistic approach to consideration of some of the challenges with the delivery of healthcare in rural and remote areas to inform the approach that we should take to address them, and that will include areas such as midwifery as part of its programme. Your constituency is an area in which the centre will particularly be able to work with the local board and the different clinical groupings to try to address some of the challenges that it faces.

Yes. One of the potential benefits of a national care service is that it will allow us to create more consistent pathways for training and career options for individuals in the social care setting, with opportunities for people to move around the system in a way that they might not be able to do at present.

Part of the challenge is that it social care is a fragmented sector. We have public sector provision, voluntary sector provision and independent sector provision and, despite the fact that there are national standards for care delivery, how they operate often varies. One of the benefits of a national care service would be that we could take a more consistent approach across those three areas, which could help staff with training and potential career routes.

Addressing the fractured nature of the way in which the social care system operates at present is one of the core purposes behind the national care service. It could deliver much greater consistency across the country.

Yes. I am particularly pleased to see that fund reopening because I set it up when I was Minister for Public Health. When the fund was being closed at the UK level, I chose to establish an ILF here in Scotland. Our reopening it—with an initial budget provision of £9 million in the next financial year—will enable us to open it up to around 1,000 additional disabled people who often have much more complex needs.

One of the real strengths of the independent living fund is that it gives individuals, particularly those who have complex care needs, much more control over how their care arrangements are delivered and by whom. I am therefore particularly pleased that we are able to reopen it for new people to apply to it. We are now taking forward the necessary work to put in place arrangements for opening up the independent living fund for individuals in the next financial year.