Chamber and committees

I have a final question. Are the two independent doctors allowed to confer with each other? I do not know whether the bill makes that explicit. Could they be a doctor at the hospital and a doctor in the GP practice, or could they be two GPs in the same practice? What makes them independent? Are they not allowed to confer with each other during the process?

I congratulate Christine Grahame on securing the debate. I know that she has been an advocate on matters relating to the Lockerbie air disaster for many years, and she laid out the history very well in the short time that she had. I thank her for her work, and for her support for Jim Swire and the other families in their search for truth and justice in relation to the Lockerbie bombing, and for Jim Swire’s search for truth and justice in relation to the murder of his daughter, Flora.

It was the worst terrorist bombing in the UK. Lockerbie is part of my South Scotland region and I spent my teenage years growing up 8 miles from the town. I know the strong emotions that are still felt locally and the huge impact that the bombing had on Lockerbie and the wider area. There are many parts of the motion with which I agree, and I pay tribute to the families of the justice for Lockerbie campaign.

On the night of the bombing, I was working in the operating theatre at Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary. When I first heard the news, the report said that a military plane had crashed over the border here in Scotland. My dad called my sister—we were flatmates at the time—and said that he had been out checking the dairy cows in the maternity paddock as they were about to calve. He was just going about his routine dairyman duties. He said that he had heard a

“boom in the night sky overhead just after 7pm ... mebbes an explosion”.

After he phoned us, we turned on the news; there would be news for many months.

These are some of my memories. My sister and I were summoned to the hospital where we both worked. Under professional, calm, efficient and effective instruction from the senior charge nurse, the theatre team were initially told to anticipate mass casualties, and we prepared for that. We prepped theatres 1 and 2 for major trauma, theatre 3 for orthopaedic trauma and theatre 4 for minor injuries, and we primed intravenous fluids and set up trolleys for general anaesthesia and intubation for arterial lines and for central venous access line placement.

At 10 pm, the theatre staff were crowded in the coffee room, glued to the news as the facts were beginning to unfold. There would be no casualties coming to theatre. This was not a military plane crash—it was Pan Am flight 103, which, with 259 humans on board, had exploded at 7.02 pm, four days before Christmas. Later, we found out that 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie were also killed.

That night will always stick with me. I pay tribute to the people of Lockerbie and of Syracuse, including Lockerbie academy and Syracuse University, for everything that they do to keep the memory of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing alive. I attended the 35th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing at Lockerbie academy, with the launch of a photographic exhibition of the people of Lockerbie going about their normal lives, rebuilding.

For many families, the search for justice continues. The upcoming US court case, involving the trial of a Libyan man, is scheduled for May this year in Washington DC. A section of the fuselage from Pan Am flight 103 was transported to the US as evidence. I understand that US prosecutors will use evidence from the first trial and new information that has been obtained since then. Given that the man who has been charged has denied building the bomb, it is important that, under the Lockerbie Victims Access Act, the court is directed to make “reasonable efforts” to provide video and telephone access to the case for people affected by the bombing.

I agree with the First Minister’s response to Christine Grahame at First Minister’s question time last month. I think that it is right to allow the US trial to progress and therefore not to make any comment that could prejudice proceedings.

In closing, I acknowledge the work of the emergency services at the scene during that time, which I am sure was traumatic. I reiterate my respect for the resilience of the families of the justice for Lockerbie campaign, and for the people of the town for keeping the memory of the victims alive.

I have worked with the organisers of many festivals in Galloway, such as the Big Burns Supper, Stranraer oyster festival, Kirkcudbright festival of light and Wigtown book festival. One thing that they raise is the need for festivals in rural areas to receive the same recognition and funding as those in the central belt do. The cabinet secretary mentioned the festivals expo fund. Will he describe further that fund and how it will support festivals beyond Edinburgh and Glasgow, including in Galloway and the Borders?

I am an MSP for South Scotland.

Good morning, everybody. My question relates to what Richard Cooke was talking about with regard to the structures and how we manage deer. How do we currently manage deer in Scotland? Is it different in the Highlands versus in the south-west, for instance? Everybody can answer, but I am looking at Richard first, because he started that ball rolling.

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?

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?

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.

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.