National Health Service (Staff Absence)

Part of First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 19 September 2024.

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Photo of Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar Labour

Yesterday, John Swinney admitted that his party had spent too long focusing on what it cannot do rather than on what it can do, so let us look at one area in which it has full control and the consequence of its failure to focus on it—our NHS.

On the Scottish National Party’s watch, one in six Scots is on an NHS waiting list, cancer treatment standards have been missed, almost 5,000 children are waiting for mental health treatment, people face dental waits of three years, and more than 1,100 nursing jobs have been cut since the start of the year, when we already have staff shortages. Our NHS staff have been left at breaking point. Does the First Minister know how many working hours were lost to NHS staff absence last year?