To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent poll that states that a Majority of people in Scotland think the NHS is worse now than it was a decade ago. (S6O-05098)

There is no doubt that, as is the case in other countries, our health and social care services continue to face challenges, not least post Covid. However, with record funding and a focus on reform and renewal, we are empowering our NHS to deliver high-quality care to people across this country. We are investing a record £21.7 billion this year, targeting areas with the longest waits, tackling backlogs and ensuring that patients get the care that they need faster.

Our plans are delivering results. Last year, for example, the NHS performed a record number of hip and knee operations, and new figures show that the number of people on NHS waiting lists has fallen.

In his statement to Parliament on urgent care in the north of Skye, Neil Gray sought to assure local people that he would seek continued improvement. However, a freedom of information response obtained by SOS NHS campaigners showed that there were no advanced nurse practitioners on duty at Portree community hospital on 53 of the 84 nights between 1 July and 22 September 2025. That includes 6 August, when thousands of people attended the Skye highland games in Portree.

NHS staff are being left to work under extreme pressure to deliver on ministerial promises that ministers are not providing them with the resources to deliver on. Is it any wonder that, when communities such as those in the north of Skye get broken promise after broken promise from the Scottish Government, confidence in the future of our NHS is so low?

As I set out in my proactive statement to Parliament, the situation in Skye is improving because there has been increased workforce development and support for increased employment in Portree hospital to ensure that Sir Lewis Ritchie’s review can be honoured. I was able to meet local residents to provide reassurances on the commitment from NHS Highland of continued improvement locally.

Members have a number of supplementary questions, and I will try to take all of them.

One group of my constituents who are undoubtedly seeing a worse performance from the NHS than 10 years ago are those who are seeking gender healthcare from Sandyford, which serves not only NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde but seven other health board areas. Public Health Scotland data that was published last week shows that some 4,000 people are on the waiting list, with fewer than 50 first appointments a year. Can the Cabinet secretary give my constituents any reassurance that some dramatic change is on its way, to ensure that that woeful performance turns around?

I acknowledge Mr Harvie’s point and the consistency with which he has raised it, including in our regular one-to-one discussions, for which I am very grateful.

I also recognise the Public Health Scotland figures that he has quoted with regard to the waiting times at the Sandyford and wider services, which are undoubtedly a challenge for us. I, too, have constituents who are in a similar situation, so I recognise the pressure that that puts on them and on staff. The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health is investing in areas to explore how we can alleviate those pressures on waiting times.

In 2024, there were 50,000 private hospital admissions in Scotland. That was a record high. In the first quarter of 2025, there was another record high. The figure has gone up by 42 per cent in the past five years. The British Medical Association’s survey was clear that the Majority of people are choosing that option because the NHS waiting lists are just so long. Is the Cabinet secretary not concerned that his Government is privatising the NHS by stealth?

No, absolutely not. I agreed with much of what Willie Rennie had to say until that final part. The basic principles that this Government is taking to reform and renewal work in the health service are based on ensuring that our health service continues to be free at the point of use and publicly owned. Of course, I am concerned by the fact that people are choosing to go through private healthcare. I want to give people the assurance that activity levels are up—and up substantially—because of the investment that we have made and the incredible dedication of staff, and that waiting times are falling. Progress has been made and the plan is working.

The figures for private healthcare in Scotland stand in stark contrast to the usage of private healthcare elsewhere in the United Kingdom. That is because we want to protect and enhance NHS capacity in Scotland.

The survey highlights some mismanagement under the Scottish National Party Administration, which is no surprise to any of us. I have a constituent who received a double mastectomy in 2017 and is still awaiting reconstructive surgery in 2025. That is eight years of waiting, with one excuse after another and the Government resetting the clock on several occasions during the process. Does the Minister agree that the creative accounting that has been applied to waiting lists is thoroughly letting my constituents down?

That is not what is happening. I want not just to sympathise and empathise, but to make sure that we provide the NHS capacity to allow the member’s constituent to be seen as quickly as possible. I have met other members—notably Dr Gulhane—with constituents who face the same issue. There is a challenge, because some of the theatres that are being used for reconstructive surgery are also being used for the first part of the treatment for people with cancer, ensuring that it gets done first. However, I am cognisant that reconstructive surgery for women with breast cancer is also part of their treatment journey and must be afforded timeously. That is why I am asking boards to consider all that they can do to ensure that it is done as fast as possible.

I remind members that I am a practising nurse in the NHS.

The poll to which Mr Halcro Johnston referred also shows that 88 per cent of people believe that healthcare should be free. The Tories and Labour have been all too happy to carve out the NHS in England to private companies. Will the Cabinet secretary reaffirm that this SNP Government will always protect the founding principles of the NHS, which are that it is publicly owned and free at the point of need—

Cabinet secretary—

—and will he ensure that it remains well funded and prepared to meet the requirements of all who use it?

Apologies, Ms Haughey. I thought that you had finished.

I absolutely agree with Clare Haughey. Our position could not be clearer: the founding principles of our national health service—that it is publicly owned, publicly operated and free at the point of need—are sacrosanct. That is why our backing of our NHS with record funding—I note that Labour and the Conservatives refused to support that record funding investment for our NHS during the budget vote—comes with a focus on reform. Such reform empowers our NHS to deliver high-quality care to people across the country, and it includes the £25.5 million of additional funding that was announced this week to allow boards to deliver more appointments and procedures.