1. Tomorrow marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a horrific war that has so far cost so many innocent lives. I pay tribute to the people of Ukraine for their courage in standing up against Vladimir Putin, and I know that we will all continue to support the people and the Government of Ukraine in their fight against this evil dictator. [

Applause

.]

Since we were last in the chamber, the First Minister has announced her resignation, and the front runner to succeed her is Humza Yousaf. During his time as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Scotland’s national health service has lurched further and further into crisis. The Scottish Conservatives have received a response to a freedom of information request that has uncovered just how awful things have become at accident and emergency departments in the past few months. This new information, which we will publish today, reveals that a patient in the Borders waited for 49 hours to be treated in accident and emergency. Someone in Lanarkshire waited for 54 hours. A patient in Ayrshire waited for 60 hours at accident and emergency—that is two and a half days at accident and emergency. Surely no one can defend that. Does that not confirm that Humza Yousaf is not even up to the job that he has at the moment?

First, I take the opportunity to mark the first anniversary tomorrow of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and to express my solidarity and that of the Scottish Government and, I am sure, of everyone in Scotland with the people of Ukraine as they continue to defend and protect their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. This afternoon, the Parliament will debate this issue and, this evening, I will host a reception in Bute house for Ukrainians in Scotland. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time for them and their country.

I should say, first, that it is for members of my party to elect a new leader of the Scottish National Party and, in effect, a new First Minister for Scotland, subject to the approval of the Parliament.

First, on the issues of the NHS and the health secretary, he is the only health secretary anywhere in the United Kingdom who has managed to avoid a single day of strikes in the national health service during this last period.

Secondly, notwithstanding the significant challenges in accident and emergency—[

Interruption

.]

Thank you, members. I would be grateful if we could hear the First Minister.

The First Minister:

I understand why the Conservatives are feeling uncomfortable, because the Conservative Government in England has not managed to avoid strikes in the NHS.

The Conservatives also get uncomfortable when they hear me point out again that, despite the significant challenges in our national health service, which I will come on to in a moment, Scotland’s accident and emergency departments remain the best performing anywhere in the UK. If I may say so to the health secretary, that is not down to him—it is down to the hard work of staff across our national health service each and every day.

Our health service faces significant issues, and we see that in the Audit Scotland report that was published today. In that report, however, we also see important context that Douglas Ross always seeks to deny. Let me quote from page 7:

“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the delivery of NHS services.”

If someone was to listen to Douglas Ross and others, they would be forgiven for thinking that the pandemic had not even happened.

The report also states:

“Scotland’s NHS is not alone in facing these issues … Many of the factors contributing to the extremely difficult situation facing the NHS in Scotland are not specific to health services, and many are not within the control of the Scottish Government”.

Notwithstanding that, we continue to support our health service to ensure record funding, record staffing, a record pay deal for agenda for change staff in Scotland and progress in reducing the longest waits in our national health service.

Shameful—that is the only way to describe that answer from the First Minister, because she made no mention of a patient in Ayrshire who, at the tail end of last year, waited for two and a half days in accident and emergency. The clue is in the name. They went there for emergency treatment and sat for two and a half days, but the First Minister’s answer to that patient is that Scotland’s health service is the best performing health service anywhere in the United Kingdom. That is little comfort to people who are waiting hours or days for treatment.

The First Minister might not have noticed that, when I sat down after mentioning those shocking statistics, Humza Yousaf smiled and smirked. The health secretary thinks that it is funny that people are waiting for days to be seen in A and E in Scotland.

The First Minister mentioned and quoted from the Audit Scotland report on the NHS. Let us remember that, this morning, the British Medical Association Scotland said that the report is “damning” of the current state of the NHS. The report outlines that Nicola Sturgeon’s chosen successor will not meet NHS job targets and says that

“performance declined further in 2022.”

In addition, the report says that

“The number of people experiencing an extremely long wait ... increased in 2022” and that performance on cancer waiting times “is getting worse”.

Every part of Scotland’s NHS is in crisis because of Humza Yousaf. Can the First Minister tell us whether the useless health secretary is really the best that the SNP has to offer?

The First Minister:

In relation to individual cases, it is always unacceptable if someone waits too long for treatment in the national health service. The

“tail end of last year”— which was Douglas Ross’s phrase—was during the winter peak of pressure. Since then, although I stress that there is still considerable progress to be made, eight-hour and 12-hour waits in accident and emergency departments have reduced, and we continue to support them to make further progress.

Douglas Ross mentioned recruitment. We have record numbers of staff in our NHS right now. Since this Government took office, we have increased NHS staffing by 28,800 people. We have higher staffing per head of population than in England or other parts of the UK.

Funding has doubled in our national health service. We have higher funding proportionately than anywhere else in the UK—to the tune, proportionately, of about £1.8 billion, which is equivalent to 44,000 nurses in our national health service.

Yes, we have significant work to do to reduce waiting times, but we are focused, first, on the longest waits, and we have seen significant progress in reducing them.

I make the comparison with other parts of the UK because Douglas Ross stands here and asks people to believe that those problems are unique to Scotland and, somehow, down to the health secretary in Scotland. That is where the Audit Scotland report is instructive, because it says that those issues are not unique to Scotland. On page 7, it says that

“Scotland’s NHS is not alone in facing these issues” and that

“many of the factors” are outwith

“the control of the Scottish Government”.

We will continue to do our job, working with and supporting the national health service. We will do that despite Douglas Ross’s determination to turn it into a political weapon, which we have just seen all too clearly.

Wow! The First Minister thinks that Opposition MSPs raising cases of people waiting two and a half days in A and E in Scotland is somehow using the issue as a political weapon. No, it is not; it is about the reality for people across Scotland just now.

The First Minister loves to make the comparison between Scotland and the rest of the UK, but let us remember that the UK Statistics Authority said that Public Health Scotland’s figures—and the statistics that Nicola Sturgeon uses for comparison—could be misleading for patients.

We know that Humza Yousaf released a recovery plan that everybody could see was just a flimsy pamphlet.

The First Minister has now quoted from page 7 of the Audit Scotland report twice. Let us go a bit further; I have gone through the whole report. It says of Humza Yousaf’s recovery plan that it lacked detailed actions. Audit Scotland said that he did not do “detailed and robust modelling” and that he did not

“engage fully with NHS boards”.

It also said that information on key patient aims “is missing”.

Humza Yousaf has made the crisis in Scotland’s health service much worse. First Minister, why should a health secretary who has failed our NHS now get to fail the whole of Scotland?

The First Minister:

First, I did not suggest that any MSP who raises patient experience is using it as a political weapon; what I said—and what I will say again—is that anyone who tries to suggest that these issues are unique to Scotland’s NHS is seeking to use our NHS as a political weapon. To use Douglas Ross’s phrase, I think that that is shameful on the part of the Conservatives.

On the recovery plan, it is the case that we have considerable work still to do. However, let us look at the progress on eight-hour and 12-hour A and E waits. Earlier, I said that those have dropped significantly since the peak over the winter period. Eight-hour waits are down by 54.9 per cent, and 12-hour waits are down by 61.6 per cent. That is because of the support that we are giving to the NHS and the work of staff on the front line.

On waiting time targets more generally, the numbers waiting the longest for treatment have reduced by almost a quarter for both in-patient and day-case treatment and also for out-patient treatment. There are significant challenges—more significant than at any point in the history of the NHS—but we are supporting our NHS with record funding, record staffing and the wider support that it needs to address those challenges. That is what this Government will continue to do.

Oh dear. Eight years ago, a failed SNP health secretary became First Minister. Now, it looks as though history is repeating itself. Why would anybody risk Scotland’s future by giving a man with Humza Yousaf’s record more power? Let us look at his time in office while the First Minister gets more intel from the Deputy First Minister—I do not know what is coming there.

Humza Yousaf was the transport minister who drove without a licence, delayed the dualling of the A9 and clapped like a seal when Nicola Sturgeon launched a ferry with painted-on windows. He was the justice secretary who did nothing while violent crime rose, who got duped by a hoax video into calling on the police to investigate Rangers players and who damaged free speech with his hate crime act. Now, Humza Yousaf is the worst health secretary since devolution, but it looks like he is going to fail upwards. In any other line of work, Humza Yousaf would have been sacked, not promoted. Forget being SNP leader—why is he even still in the Government?

The First Minister:

I do not know about anybody else, but it sounds to me as though Douglas Ross is pretty scared of Humza Yousaf—[

Interruption

.]—as, I am sure, he will be scared of whoever is elected to succeed me as SNP leader. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Thank you, members.

The First Minister:

Douglas Ross referred to the fact that I was health secretary before becoming First Minister, which I am extremely proud of.

Let me just reflect on this fact: in the eight years that I have been First Minister, the people of Scotland have had no fewer than eight opportunities to cast a verdict on me, my party and my Government. With every single one of those eight opportunities, the people of Scotland have rejected the Conservatives and put their trust in me, my party and my Government. I have every confidence that whoever succeeds me as leader of the SNP will continue that record of success.