Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 21 February 2024.
I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate. I especially thank Tim Eagle for a fine first speech, which I thought was excellent. He showed his passion for Moray, and he has a good grasp of the issues that are at play. My one bit of advice would be not to follow the lead of Sandesh Gulhane and fail to turn up for the summing-up speeches of the debate; otherwise, it was an excellent first start.
One of the issues that Mr Eagle specifically mentioned was the long distances to get access to some care, especially around maternity services and Dr Gray’s. That was the bit of Beatrice Wishart’s contribution that she was not able to squeeze in because she was far too generous to Fergus Ewing. It was about Jamie Stone’s point about maternity services in Caithness and the far north and how women have to travel hundreds of miles to get treatment. The strain must be incredible.
Alex Rowley was right. All members in the chamber recognise the value of NHS staff. We understand it. We have seen it at first hand. I have seen it at first hand over the past year with far too many family members who have spent a long time in hospital. I have seen at close quarters the pressure that NHS staff are under, and there is no doubt that all members present would thank them for the work that they are doing.
The morning call to the GP is incredibly stressful. People have to make repeated calls. Sometimes, the line is engaged if the practice does not have the right telephone system and, sometimes, people fail to get an appointment day after day. Those long waits add to the pressure, strain and anxiety that patients already feel because they believe that they have an important illness that needs to be addressed. Moreover, something might be urgent without people knowing it, so those waits might prevent us from making the early intervention that GPs often provide.
Ivan McKee was bang on when he said that GPs were the gateway. The preventative service—the old-style family doctor—was an important part of the community. That has changed, and I am sure that everybody recognises the additional health professionals who are now part of the multidisciplinary team that the minister just talked about. We should encourage our constituents to accept the advice from the receptionist to go to another health professional and not just insist on seeing their GP. That helps, alongside going to a pharmacy, which often provides more direct support.
Although Ivan McKee was right about that, he was a wee bit wrong in blaming the Lib Dems for everything to do with primary care. However, I accept that he is allowed to make some political points.
The cabinet secretary acknowledged some of the issues. I accept that there are issues connected to Brexit—to which we are still opposed. The pandemic has added to the pressure, and we know that budgetary pressures apply, too. However, I have to say that there was a bit too much of blaming everybody else and not accepting the responsibility for the inordinate pressures that primary care services face.