Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is determined to reduce waiting times across all health specialties. Within the past seven days alone, the health secretary has announced funding for a new national digital dermatology programme, which could reduce demand for out-patient appointments in dermatology—one of the biggest out-patient specialties in Scotland—by up to 50 per cent.

In addition to that, on Monday in Inverness the First Minister opened Scotland’s third national treatment centre. The extra capacity that it has created will help to reduce NHS waiting lists that have built up during the pandemic, and the two further NTCs that are set to open this year will help to further that aim.

Although there is still more to do, since targets were announced last July such actions have resulted in a continued reduction in long waits of over 18 months, as well as a significant reduction in long waits of over two years.

The Labour motion shows us that that party has its head in the sand and demonstrates how little it understands the challenges that are faced by our NHS—not only in Scotland but across all the UK nations. There is no recognition or acknowledgement in it of the biggest challenge that the NHS has faced in its almost 75 years of existence: that is, the Covid-19 pandemic. Scottish Labour might not wish to accept that fact coming from SNP members, but it should listen to Welsh Labour’s First Minister, who recently said:

“The health services are trying to cope with the impact of the coronavirus, and they are also trying to re-establish everything else that is important in those services.”

Quite evidently, health services across the four nations and, indeed, internationally, are dealing with the effects of the pandemic on waiting times.

I also find it telling that, in its motion, Labour refers to use of private healthcare, which—although Labour would have us believe otherwise—is not unique to Scotland but affects health services across the UK. The rate of people who are self-funding for private in-patient day-case care in England is 19.9 per cent higher than it is in Scotland. In Wales, where Labour has been in charge of the health service for about 25 years, the rate is an eye-watering 120 percent higher than it is in Scotland. Labour’s UK shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, recently said that

“Labour would use the spare capacity in the private sector to get patients seen faster”.

Another area in which some self-reflection from Labour would not go amiss is Brexit, which it now fully supports despite the impact that it is having on recruiting and retaining NHS staff. Although NHS staffing is up to historically high levels under this Scottish Government, we know that workers from overseas have long been an important part of our health and care workforce, and that international recruitment is vital to addressing staffing shortages in the NHS. Since Brexit, the number of new international nurse registrants from inside the European Union has fallen dramatically. Friends and colleagues have returned to their EU home countries, and other people who might have considered a new life here have decided not to come to the UK. That is evidenced in Nursing and Midwifery Council registration data from the past few years, so it is fact, rather than opinion.

As a country, we need to find a way of ensuring that we have an immigration system that is not just humane but meets our social and economic needs.

Can the cabinet secretary outline what engagement the Scottish Government has had with the BMA to address these concerns while the UK Government continues to fail to listen to junior doctors?

I congratulate my colleague Stuart McMillan on bringing this important debate to the chamber.

We know that 90 per cent of liver disease is preventable but, sadly, it is one of the leading causes of premature death in Scotland. In addition, liver cancer has seen the largest increase in mortality rates of all cancer types over the past decade, and it is now the fastest-rising cause of cancer deaths in the UK.

It is vitally important that we focus on the prevention of liver disease and liver cancer, and step up efforts to detect them earlier. For that reason, I welcome the news that NHS Lanarkshire has partnered with the British Liver Trust to launch a series of love your liver roadshows across Lanarkshire this summer.

The love your liver mobile unit will stop at 10 locations in Lanarkshire over the next three months to find people who have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus, which is a silent disease that can lead to severe liver complications if it is left undetected. Visitors to the unit will have the opportunity to gain information about hepatitis C and receive a non-invasive liver scan, and a swab test if they are identified as being at high risk of hepatitis C and liver disease. The roadshow will be in my Rutherglen constituency, at Morrisons in Cambuslang, on Wednesday 26 July. I greatly encourage constituents to attend it.

It is clear that Scotland will not find either of those things as part of the Westminster system of Government. The route to both is Scotland becoming an independent country.

Challenges remain, and there are still unacceptable waits in some specialties, but the Scottish Government remains committed to delivering sustained improvement and year-on-year reductions in waiting times, through maximising capacity across Scotland, enhancing regional and national working, and redesigning care services.

As the cabinet secretary has referenced, the BMA today wrote to Rishi Sunak, asking to meet him urgently to find a resolution to the on-going dispute in England.

Amendment 25, in the name of Carol Mochan, has already been debated with amendment 6.

Amendment 25 moved—[Carol Mochan]—and agreed to.

Sections 13 and 14 agreed to.

Section 15—Confidentiality of information

I call the minister to wind up.

The result of the division is: For 4, Against 6, Abstentions 0.

Amendment 13 disagreed to.

Schedule 1 agreed to.

Section 2—Functions

The result of the division is: For 4, Against 6, Abstentions 0.

Amendment 26 disagreed to.

Amendment 27 moved—[Sandesh Gulhane].

Our second agenda item is consideration of the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill at stage 2. I welcome the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto, and her officials.

I will explain the procedure briefly for anyone who is watching.

All members should have a copy of the bill as introduced, the marshalled list of amendments, which was published on Thursday 8 June, and the groupings of amendments paper, which sets out the amendments in the order in which the groups will be debated.

There will be one debate on each group of amendments. I will call the member who lodged the first amendment in the group to speak to and move that amendment and to speak to all the other amendments in the group. Given that we have other business this morning, I encourage members to ensure that contributions are concise and to the point.

If members who have not lodged amendments in the group wish to speak, they should indicate that by catching my attention. I will conclude the debate on the group by inviting the member who moved the first amendment in the group to wind up. If the minister has not already spoken to the group, I will invite her to contribute to the debate.

Following the debate on each group, I will check whether the member who moved the first amendment in the group wishes to press it to a vote or to withdraw it. If they wish to press it to a vote, I will put the question on that amendment. If a member wishes to withdraw their amendment after it has been moved, they must seek the committee’s agreement to do so. If any committee member objects, we will immediately move to the vote on the amendment.

If a member does not want to move their amendment when called, they should say, “Not moved.” Please note that any other member may move the amendment. If no one moves the amendment, I will immediately call the next amendment on the marshalled list.

Only committee members are allowed to vote. Voting in any division is by a show of hands. It is important that members keep their hands clearly raised until the clerk has recorded the vote. Once voting has been completed, the clerks will check the result and pass it to me to read out. If any member considers that their vote has been incorrectly recorded once I have read out the result of the vote, they should let me know as soon as possible, please. I will pause to provide some time for that.

The committee is required to indicate formally that it has considered and agreed to each section of the bill, so I will put a question on whether each section is agreed to at the appropriate point.

Schedule 1—The office of Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland