Scottish Parliament – Jan. 18, 2023 – 2

The result of the division on motion S6M-07538, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on addressing the crisis in the NHS and social care, as amended, is: For 67, Against 54, Abstentions 0. Motion, as amended, agreed to, That the Parliament recognises the unprecedented pressure that NHS and care staff have faced over the winter and thanks them for all their efforts in caring for the people of Scotland at this challenging time;

notes that these are challenges that are being faced across the UK and beyond;

recognises that the triple impact of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK Government’s cost of living crisis has exacerbated the pressures faced by the health service;

believes that freedom of movement within Europe would be beneficial to help addressing recruitment challenges, and that the only route to securing that is membership of the European Union;

welcomes that constructive industrial relations in Scotland’s health service mean that Scotland is the only part of the UK not experiencing strike action from health staff this winter;

notes the ongoing £1 billion NHS Recovery Plan, which is supporting new ways of delivering care that are creating additional capacity for inpatients, day case patients and outpatients, including investment to support the four National Treatment Centres (NTC) due to open over 2023;

recognises that the expanded NTC network will provide additional capacity of eight additional orthopaedic theatres, an additional inpatient/day case ward, five endoscopy rooms and two general theatres, initially providing over 12,250 additional procedures, dependent on workforce;

welcomes the Scottish Government’s draft Budget, which included additional investment to increase adult social care wages, and believes that, through the creation of the National Care Service, there is a real opportunity for underpinning fair work in social care and delivering national sectoral bargaining for social care workers.