Scottish Labour Party Debate: Ending NHS Long Waits

Jackie Baillie S6M-11874 That the Parliament is alarmed that almost one in six people in Scotland are languishing on NHS waiting lists for tests or treatment; notes that the Scottish Government has failed to meet its own target, set out in July 2022 by the current First Minister, to eliminate the longest waits in planned care, with a staggering 80,000 people currently waiting over a year to be seen; recognises that the Scottish National Party administration’s flagship network of National Treatment Centres has been beset by delays; is concerned that the NHS is facing a workforce crisis, with 6,800 NHS vacancies that are unfilled, while agency costs have rocketed in recent years, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to set out a clear plan and timetable for when all long waits for planned care will be eradicated, and provide an update on the timescales and final costs for all the promised National Treatment Centres. Michael Matheson S6M-11874.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-11874 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Ending NHS Long Waits), leave out from "is alarmed" to end and insert "recognises that health services across the UK are dealing with the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on waiting times; further recognises that too many people are waiting too long for treatment, and welcomes the reductions in the longest waits, including a 69% reduction in patients waiting over two years for a new outpatient appointment from the end of June 2022 and a 26% reduction in patients waiting longer than two years for inpatient or day case treatment over the same period; highlights the launch of the Waiting Well Hub, to give people the information and tools that they need to look at their own health and wellbeing during the waiting period, think about what matters to them and what health improvements they could make in the meantime; welcomes that constructive engagement with trade unions has meant that Scotland is the only part of the UK not experiencing strike action and the associated unprecedented level of disruption for patients and families; further welcomes the Scottish Government’s draft Budget, which gives the NHS a real-terms uplift, in stark contrast to the UK Government Autumn Statement figures, which show a real-terms cut to NHS England; notes that, due to the deteriorating medium-term fiscal outlook, a revised Infrastructure Investment Plan Pipeline is expected to be published alongside the Medium-term Financial Strategy in May 2024; appreciates that the workforce is at the heart of all that the NHS does, and thanks all of Scotland’s highly skilled and committed NHS staff for their hard work and dedication, and believes that the NHS must be kept true to its founding principles of being publicly owned, publicly operated, and free at the point of need, and further believes that the only way to protect the NHS from the creeping privatisation imposed by UK administrations is through independence." Sandesh Gulhane S6M-11874.1 As an amendment to motion S6M-11874 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Ending NHS Long Waits), insert at end "; regrets that over one million people have had to wait more than four hours at A&E in this parliamentary session alone; stresses the need to bring down long waits for mental health services, and condemns the decision of the Scottish Ministers to introduce a real-terms cut to the budget for alcohol and drug services while drug deaths in Scotland remain disturbingly high."