Waiting Times

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 17 May 2012.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon Scottish National Party

I welcome the debate. I know how important waiting times are to the public and I am proud of the Government’s record on waiting times. I pay an unequivocal tribute to NHS staff. I know how challenging their jobs are, particularly in the current climate. They do a fantastic job and they deserve our thanks—not thanks with a “but” at the end, but our unqualified thanks, which is what they get from SNP members.

Before I turn to the staff’s progress on waiting times, I take the opportunity to thank staff for another extremely important achievement. Yesterday’s annual report from Health Protection Scotland confirmed the dramatic reduction in healthcare associated infection in recent years. There will always be more to do on that agenda, but we should not underestimate the amount of work that has been involved in reducing Clostridium difficile by 35 per cent and MRSA by 40 per cent in the past year alone. I am grateful to everyone who has been involved in that and I put on record my thanks to them.