Chamber and committees

The cabinet secretary mentioned hospital at home a couple of times in his answers. Can he say any more about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to further develop the programme, which, as we know, plays an important role in reducing pressure on hospitals and ambulance services?

The challenges that Claire Baker outlined in her Mid Scotland and Fife region are not unique and are also experienced by my constituents in Dundee, so I am pleased that the Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record in growing Scotland’s NHS dental workforce. Will the minister provide an update on how many dentists currently operate in Scotland and how that figure compares with the figures for England and Wales under Labour Governments?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. There seems to be an issue in this part of the chamber. I would have been delighted to have voted yes.

You are tedious.

Shameful!

A fascist!

I am happy to make an intervention on the member.

On a point of order—

Thank you very much. For clarity, I need to make the point that, when I used the word “fascist”, I was talking about Mussolini. It is stretching the point to compare a Scottish Government minister with a fascist in Italy, and I thought that it was shameful to do so.

I am sure that members, including Jackie Baillie, will welcome the First Minister’s comments about the fact that the number of nursing and midwifery posts has increased by 4.5 per cent since last year. What further steps are being taken, in particular by the nursing and midwifery task force, to ensure that qualified nurses continue to be supported through the hiring process?