Every day this week the Daily Record has been highlighting key areas within the NHS which have led to the current crisis. We have shown where change is urgently needed to save our health service – with delayed discharges, staffing, Covid and our unhealthy lifestyles the main challenges we face.
We have heard from nurses and doctors working at the sharp end who have had to deal with sick patients forced to wait for hours in A&E or unable to get GP appointments. Today, our NHS SOS series gives an opportunity to the minister who can make the changes to tell us his plans for the NHS.
Writing for the Record, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf tells us what he plans to do to cure the NHS. Now it’s up to him to take the lead and get our health service back to its world-leading best.
I love our NHS. It has been there in good times and bad, from providing compassionate care to my wife and I when we miscarried, to the skill and expertise they showed when my wife had to go in to hospital for an emergency C-section because our daughter decided to come into the world four weeks early, lying horizontally as opposed to head down.
It is because I love our NHS so much that I will ensure I spend every waking moment doing whatever I can to help our health service recover. There is simply no doubt this winter has been the most challenging the NHS has ever experienced in its 74-year existence.
Demand on services has been more heightened than any winter we experienced during the pandemic. The continued impacts of the pandemic as well as extraordinary rises in flu and increases in Covid and Strep A have contributed to the extreme pressures our NHS is facing.
We must remember Covid has not gone away – the most recent statistics are a reminder of this as they show Covid cases at their highest levels since summer. The scale of the challenge has been significant and throughout this entire period, our NHS staff have shown themselves to be the best in the world.
Everyone working in health, social care and social work has continued to provide exemplary care under sustained pressure. Their dedication and resilience has been remarkable and they have my deepest gratitude. We will honour them not just with warm words but through our deeds, that’s why we offered our nurses and other staff a record pay deal this year.
We are doing everything possible to support services through the remaining weeks of winter. Our strategy involves continued investment in social care to help free up the exit block in exceptionally busy hospitals.
That is why I have announced further support to buy additional capacity in the care sector. Health and Social Care Partnerships will share £8million to procure about 300 additional care home beds.
The funding will allow boards to pay 25 per cent over and above the National Care Home rate for beds. This is on top of the £600million in our winter plan which will see us recruit 1000 additional staff.
We know hospital is not a good place to be for people who are medically fit to leave, because it can lead to them becoming weaker or less independent. It is crucial they can move home, or to a homely setting, as soon as possible.
This will alleviate pressure by freeing up beds for those in most need and improving the flow of patients through hospitals. It is also, most importantly, in the best interest of the people concerned.
We are also doing everything possible to try and reduce demand at the front door, and data shows we are having some success with attendances at A&E reducing. Unfortunately we know those who are attending are sicker, with the length of stay in hospital increasing.
NHS 24 has a vital role in referring people to urgent care services outside of hospitals and our plans to increase staff numbers by about 200 will help the service deal with increases in demand. In the run-up to Christmas, NHS 24 had already recruited more than 40 whole time equivalent call operators, call handlers and clinical supervisors.
It is vital we ensure NHS Boards have the ability to respond flexibly to local circumstances and to deploy local solutions. Guidance has been issued to boards, making it absolutely clear they can and should take steps to protect critical and life-saving care, if judged to be necessary.
I have always maintained I will leave no stone unturned in order to avert industrial action in our Health Service, and continued meaningful dialogue with trade unions to agree a way forward. I welcome the fact the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and the GMB Union have agreed to suspend industrial action.
We are now in negotiation with trade unions to agree a pay uplift for NHS Agenda for Change staff for 2023-24. I would urge the UK Government to get back to the negotiating table with unions as we have done in Scotland.
A&E performance is a strong indicator of overall pressure on services. A&E stats have improved in recent weeks which I hope is a signal that we are nearing the end of this period of extreme pressure.
However, we are not complacent and my absolute priority remains supporting the NHS through the most challenging winter in its history. Emergency care will always be there for those who need it but for many, the best advice might be available on NHS Inform or the NHS 24 App, or by calling NHS 24, so I would encourage people to make use of these services.
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