Chamber and committees

Given what Malcolm Combe said about Govan and what Lea MacNally said about an urban deer pilot, deer management isnae just in rural highland or lowland areas but in peri-urban areas. There are also challenges around the jobs or skills required to cull deer in an urban area. Is that a concern? Do you need extra skills or a higher level of skill to cull deer in an urban area?

The SNP Scottish Government values Scotland’s NHS workforce and is committed to investing in it. The staff in our NHS are the backbone of our nation’s healthcare, and I thank every member of staff for all the care and support that they provide.

I remind members that I am still a registered nurse and am a former employee of NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

The challenges that Scotland’s NHS faces are not unique. Labour’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, admitted that, when it comes to NHS funding, Westminster is damaging Scotland’s NHS because of the austerity that we have suffered for 14 years. He said:

“All roads lead back to Westminster”

and added:

“The NHS is in crisis and all decisions that are taken in Westminster don’t just affect England—but Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

Scotland is not alone in facing challenges that relate to the NHS, but the SNP Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that our health service is not just the best in these islands but the best that it can be.

The Scottish Government is choosing to invest more than £21 billion in health and social care in 2025-26. That will be record funding to ensure that people have access to high-quality health, mental health and social care services, driving forward the vision of a Scotland in which people live longer, healthier lives.

The budget includes almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and reduce delayed discharge—to ensure that, by March 2026, no one waits more than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment or day case treatment.

I took a note of what Douglas Ross said about sleep apnoea assessment. I am co-convener of the cross-party group on lung health. We have taken lots of information about new AI technology that can be used to aid assessment, then diagnosis, more speedily. I look forward to hearing that NHS Grampian picks up that process, which is being trialled in Inverness and other areas, including Dumfries and Galloway.

In addition, £16.2 billion is allocated to front-line NHS boards to improve health in communities and to assess and deliver the most effective care for the people whom they serve. There is £2.2 billion for social care and integration, which exceeds our commitment to increasing funding by 25 per cent by more than £350 million.

There is so much that could be said, but, in closing, I note that Labour members are again talking down our NHS and that their colleagues in Westminster are working to constrain it, while this Government continues to support our NHS to meet the demands of 2025.

No—I am sorry.

There is £1.3 billion for mental health services, which more than doubles direct investment since 2020-21.

There is an additional £139 million in capital spending power to progress the Belford hospital, Monklands hospital and Edinburgh eye pavilion projects. The SNP Government spent £200 million to build a new hospital in NHS Dumfries and Galloway: the Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary.

There has been sustained record funding to address the public health challenges of drugs and alcohol, including the commitment to provide an additional £250 million over this parliamentary session.

Those commitments are welcome and they demonstrate how the Scottish Government is working to address the challenges in our health service.

The Scottish Government continues to address the challenges that are faced in our healthcare system, but it is constrained at every step by UK Governments of whatever colour. The impact of the UK Labour Government’s increase in employer national insurance contributions is expected to be “catastrophic” for Scotland’s social care sector. That change was brought about without any understanding of how the care sector currently works, without any consultation with stakeholders and without modelling the impact of the change. Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, has called it

“the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

The Labour chancellor’s national insurance hike, which other members have mentioned, could impact public services in Scotland to the tune of £700 million and is likely to cost the social care sector in Scotland more than £84 million. That issue is clearly more pressing than any discussion about the medium-term and long-term improvement of our social care system; it is an immediate threat to our social care system in Scotland. The UK Government must cover the cost in full—no ifs, no buts—if Scotland’s healthcare sector is to survive that catastrophic decision by Labour. Just like the UK Government has done to our farmers, our social care sector is now being shafted, too.

The Labour motion makes reference to healthcare graduates not being employed in our NHS. That is simply not correct. The Scottish Government continues to support health boards to ensure that graduates can secure jobs in NHS roles and it works with boards to ensure that they are maximising the opportunities for newly qualified nurses to find employment. Under this Government, the number of qualified nurses and midwives has increased by 16.1 per cent, and the Government’s nursing and midwifery task force is working collaboratively with stakeholders to develop actions that will build a sustainable, attractive and respected workforce.

The Scottish Government has increased Scotland’s medical undergraduate intake from 848 in 2015-16 to 1,417 in 2023-24, which is a 67 per cent increase in the number of available medical school places at Scottish universities. Indeed, this SNP Government conceived of and implemented the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme—ScotGEM—to train the next generation of rural GPs, including across Dumfries and Galloway. I welcome updates regarding ScotGEM’s progress.

I am sure that members share my concern about the impact of the United Kingdom Government’s increase to employer national insurance contributions on culture organisations in Scotland, including those in rural communities. It will no doubt put huge pressure on their resources. Can the cabinet secretary provide any update on the assessment that the Scottish Government has made of the impact on the sector of the national insurance hike?

Okay. I am thinking about healthcare practitioners. I am a registered nurse—I need to remember to say that. Is there provision for healthcare practitioners who would be participating in the process of helping somebody to end their life?

Does the bill, as drafted, provide a pathway for somebody to end their life without others being prosecuted? Does it interact with the current law in a way that facilitates the prosecution of offences around suicide and assisted dying that are not covered by the requirements of the bill? The bill is about somebody choosing to be assisted to end their life if they are terminally ill.

Education costs would apply only initially, because once the service was established, training would be built into registered nurse training programmes as well as medical training. In other words, there would be an initial training cost, but then training would be built into future training programmes.

Good morning. I am interested in exploring issues related to the current law. The policy memorandum mentions that the member in charge believes that

“the current legal position is unacceptably unclear as there is currently no specific legislation in Scotland which makes assisted dying a criminal offence, yet it is also possible to be prosecuted for offences such as murder or culpable homicide for assisting the death of another person.”

I am interested in your assessment of the extent to which the current criminal law is clear, and the extent to which the case of Ross v Lord Advocate 2016 made the position clearer.

Wigtownshire and other parts of D and G were particularly hard-hit by excessively high, gale-force winds during the storm, with communities, including in the Machars, being left without power, some until yesterday. The storm closed the entirety of the A75 and impacted key infrastructure.

I thank the emergency responders, including the Dumfries and Galloway Council and SPEN teams, for their efforts to support local residents. Can the cabinet secretary set out what further action can be taken in rural areas, particularly for people who have electrical medical requirements?