To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address concerns regarding waiting times in A and E departments, following reports of a mother having to wait 50 hours for medical care at University hospital Wishaw. (S6F-03736)

I apologise for the long wait that was experienced by the patient who was referred to by Meghan Gallacher, and to anyone whose experience of the national health service has fallen short. Services have been under exceptional pressure due to a number of issues, including a rise in winter illness, as I recounted to the Parliament last week.

On Monday, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I held a further meeting with health boards, the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24 and Public Health Scotland to assess the pressures and discuss on-going work to minimise delays. As part of that, we will build on the good work that is under way in many boards to ensure that every core A and E department has a frailty unit, which has been shown to shorten lengths of stays and improve outcomes for patients.

Lynn Nelson said:

“I genuinely did not believe I would leave that hospital.”

When I spoke to her this morning, she told me of her ordeal when she arrived at Wishaw general hospital in my region. She told me that the hospital was like a war zone and that she had no access to basic facilities such as a toilet or medication for pain relief. The issue is not the nurses or the doctors; it is the system that is fundamentally broken. Lynn is grateful to all the NHS staff who helped her, especially those on the ward, who she says gave outstanding care.

However, Lynn is yet to receive an apology from the health secretary for the disgraceful mismanagement of our NHS. She does not want anyone else to endure what she did. Will the First Minister write to Lynn to apologise for her having to wait 50 hours for medical care at Wishaw general hospital? Will he finally admit that the system is broken and install a health secretary who is fully focused on fixing our NHS?

If Meghan Gallacher provides me with her constituent’s address, I will happily write to convey the apology that I have put on the record in the Parliament today, because I think that what happened is unacceptable. However, I have also explained to the Parliament the enormous pressures that the health service is enduring because of the significant upsurge in winter flu cases that we have experienced in recent weeks.

The situation that was reported to me and the health secretary on Monday is an improved situation. The pressure is less intense. That should not be confused with there being no pressure, because there remains significant pressure on the national health service, but the health secretary and I are entirely focused on making sure that we address those issues, and we will continue to do so, because it is essential that we focus on what matters to the people of Scotland. That is about improving the health service, which is what we are committed to doing.

Every week the First Minister says sorry, and every week it gets worse. A and E departments across Scotland continue to be in chaos, with more than 173,000 patients having waited more than eight hours to be seen in A and E last year.

The First Minister hosted an NHS crisis meeting in Bute house yesterday. He has already sidelined the health secretary, and he is finally waking up to the years of Scottish National Party failure, but, of course, he was at the heart of the SNP Government for 17 of those 18 years. The First Minister is keen to tell us about the importance of staff, and on that we can agree. They are working flat out to keep patients safe, and there is no solution to the crisis that does not involve NHS staff. I therefore ask the First Minister to explain why Unison and other trade unions that represent the Majority of NHS staff were not invited to his meeting yesterday. Do they not matter?

Jackie Baillie said that every week it gets worse. That is not true. [ Interruption .] I am getting lectured about the importance of accuracy in what we say in the Parliament, so Jackie Baillie better listen to what I am going to say to her about her statement. [ Interruption .]

Let us hear the First Minister.

Although the performance of A and E units is not where we want it to be, performance on the four-hour target has risen in each week since the week ending 22 December as a result of the hard work of the staff in the health service. Jackie Baillie should stop running down the staff of the national health service. For her information, I note that more than 1 million patients in Scotland have been treated within the four-hour target during the past year, and that is because our staff deliver on our behalf. We are very proud of them, into the bargain. [ Interruption .]

Let us hear the First Minister.

Oh, I think that I have touched—[ Interruption. ]

I am calling on members to ensure that we can hear the First Minister or, indeed, whoever has been called to speak.

I do not think that Jackie Baillie wants to hear that she is giving factual inaccuracies to the Parliament today. I do not think that she is interested in hearing that. [ Interruption. ]

Can we please conduct ourselves in an orderly manner?

I am going to explain the fact that Jackie Baillie is sharing incorrect information with the Parliament. If Jackie Baillie—[ Interruption .]

This is wholly unacceptable. If there are members who wish to come to the chamber and shout, they should perhaps think about whether this is where they wish to be. We have a great—[ Interruption .]

If members wish to remain in the chamber, it is essential that they conduct themselves in a courteous and respectful manner. That includes respecting the authority of the chair.

On Wednesday, I had a round-table discussion with the health secretary and a range of health stakeholders, some of whom represent employees in the national health service. The author of the survey that Mr Sarwar cited to me last week—the Royal College of Nursing—was represented around the table. It is important to note that I heard directly from those who represent some of the workforce.

That is not the last discussion that we will have in Bute house about the national health service. We made that clear earlier in the week. If Jackie Baillie had been paying as much attention to my press output as Anas Sarwar has, she would have heard that there will be more round-table discussions in Bute house. I will be delighted for Unison, the GMB and other unions to participate. I suspect that they will make a more constructive contribution than Jackie Baillie ever will.