Scottish Labour Party Business: Bringing Down NHS Waiting Lists

Jackie Baillie S6M-12455 That the Parliament is concerned that almost 825,000 patients are stuck on NHS waiting lists for tests and treatment, whilst long waits have continued to rise, despite the current First Minister promising to eradicate them; is disappointed that the statutory 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee has been broken 680,000 times since it was introduced, and 320,000 times before the COVID-19 pandemic; notes that the Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plan commitment to deliver 55,500 additional inpatient and day-case procedures by 2025-26 will not be met, in light of its decision to pause the National Treatment Centres programme, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to urgently tackle delayed discharge to increase capacity and publish a revised plan for bringing down waiting lists, including clarifying whether it still intends to reduce waiting lists by 100,000 patients by 2026, and to set out the source of the £300 million funding package that it announced in October 2023. Neil Gray S6M-12455.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-12455 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Bringing Down NHS Waiting Lists), leave out from "is concerned" to end and insert "recognises the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on health service waiting times across the UK, and around the world; commends the dedicated NHS staff who work to provide the best care possible; believes that all long waits are regrettable and welcomes the progress in delivering a significant reduction for the longest waits; welcomes the opening of two National Treatment Centres within the last 12 months, with a further two centres opening in the coming months, which will provide capacity for an additional 20,000 procedures each year; notes that the Scottish Budget provides over £19.5 billion for health and social care, ensuring a real-terms uplift for the NHS in the face of UK Government austerity; acknowledges that, without the distinct and progressive approach to income tax in the Budget, the NHS and other public services would have £1.5 billion less funding; understands that the UK Government’s decision to cut the Scottish Government’s capital budget by £1.3 billion in real terms by 2027-28 has a direct impact on health infrastructure projects; believes that the £20 billion that the UK Government will lose as a result of its decision to cut national insurance should instead have been invested in NHS services and in infrastructure investment, and understands that the share of Barnett consequential funding that Scotland has lost as a result is around £1.6 billion, and believes that, in order to recover from the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and UK Government economic mismanagement, reform and innovation across the health service is required." Sandesh Gulhane S6M-12455.1 As an amendment to motion S6M-12455 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Bringing Down NHS Waiting Lists), after “programme” insert “; recognises with deep concern that the Scottish Government has provided no guarantee of when new healthcare investment will resume; notes with alarm that one in 10 patients in Scotland are forced to wait more than a year for a new outpatient appointment and more than a year and a half for an inpatient appointment; expresses further concern that, because of the increasing shortage of GPs, the true scale of the treatment backlog may be even higher, as patients find it increasingly difficult to access their GPs and obtain referral for diagnosis and treatment; condemns the consistent failure of the Scottish Government to pass on the full Barnett consequential funding for healthcare, cumulatively short-changing the NHS in Scotland by £17.6 billion; emphasises that long waits for treatment and diagnosis cause suffering and death”.