Sandesh Gulhane
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party · Scotland
“It has been a privilege to be here in the Scottish Parliament for the past five years. I came into politics to stand up for patients and our hard- working national health service staff, who do extraordinary work in the face of immense pressure, and I am proud to declare that I am a practising NHS general practitioner.”
“Neil Gray: I do not think that we can—and nor should we—seek to draw a correlation between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde officials and the SNP. I do not know the politics of the leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and we should be careful to draw a distinction in that regard.”
“On Skye House, the Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing gave a statement to Parliament just days ago setting out the Government’s actions and how we are seeking to respond, working with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to ensure that improvements are made.”
“I say that as someone who shares some of those internal tensions—as a practising Hindu, I wrestle with the philosophical, ethical and spiritual aspects of my faith when I consider legislation such as this. These are not abstract ideas to me; they are part of my own moral framework. However, this Parliament is not a theocracy.”
“Jenni Minto: I am grateful to Dr Gulhane for his comments. The healthcare exception exists to ensure that the bill will not regulate procedures that are provided by regulated healthcare professionals for a healthcare purpose— specifically, for the purpose of preventing, diagnosing or treating illness.”
“I want to be clear that many practitioners who work in the sector take their responsibilities extremely seriously. They operate from clean, sterile environments, follow proper consent procedures and understand how to recognise complications. I have every sympathy with those practitioners.”
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“John Swinney’s sudden involvement as interim health secretary speaks volumes about the SNP’s lack of confidence in its health secretary, and his empty- rhetoric speech was heavy on spin. Our NHS staff and patients deserve a health secretary who is not sidelined by their own Government and distracted by personal scandals. The blame does not end with Neil Gray. For 17 years, the SNP has failed to plan effectively for Scotland’s health and social care workforce. Staff are the backbone of our NHS, yet they have been treated as an afterthought. Nurses, doctors and social care workers are burning out under the strain of staff shortages, increased demands and insufficient resources. Our healthcare workers have experienced moral injury.”
“Let us not forget cancer treatment waiting times, which is another area in which the SNP has failed miserably. The target to start cancer treatment within 62 days of urgent referral has not been met in more than a decade. That is utterly unacceptable. It is clear that one health secretary after another has failed Scotland, including the current office- holder, Neil Gray. The problems go far beyond his incompetence; they are systemic and the result of a Government that is more focused on excuses than solutions. When Neil Gray admitted that there was, effectively, nothing new in his most recent plan to prevent the NHS from winter collapse, he confirmed everything that we already know. He has no vision, shows no leadership and has no ideas. What is his role now if John Swinney must step in to clean up his mess?”
“Waiting lists have hit record highs, with one in six Scots now stuck waiting for care. More than 9,000 patients have been left languishing on waiting lists for more than two years—two years, Deputy Presiding Officer. Those are not just statistics; they are our families, our friends, and our communities. Patients are waiting at A and E departments. Recent figures revealed that around 40 per cent of A and E patients are not being seen within four hours—a target that the SNP has not met anywhere since July 2020. Meanwhile, Scotland has the lowest life expectancy in western Europe, and delayed discharges are at a record high, occupying 650,000 hospital days in 2023. That is the SNP’s legacy: unmet targets, broken promises, and a health service that is in decline.”
“I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a practising GP. Today, I speak not only as a politician but as someone who has witnessed at first hand the consequences of years of SNP mismanagement in our health and social care sectors. There is groaning from members on the SNP back benches, but they should listen to this. The SNP has had 18 years to deliver on its promises to improve Scotland’s NHS and support Scotland’s health and social care workforce, and yet, here we are again, discussing the same problems, which have worsened due to its managed decline of services. A decade and a half of neglect and a failure to act has left Scotland’s health service at breaking point. Under Neil Gray’s tenure as health secretary, our NHS has been allowed to slip further into a permanent crisis.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the replacement of HMP Barlinnie, including in relation to the delivery date and cost. (S6O-04263)”
“Its grand plan to revolutionise social care was likened to the creation of the NHS itself, but what did we get instead? We saw the £30 million that was spent on preparatory work being flushed down the drain, and much of the bill has now been torn up, leaving Scotland’s social care system worse off than it was three years ago.”
“In 2017, we were promised 800 new GPs, but Scotland now has fewer full-time-equivalent GPs than we had a decade ago, while patient demand has soared. In 2022, the SNP set the target of eliminating waits of more than a year for treatment by September 2024, but today more than 90,000 Scots have been waiting more than 52 weeks for care. We have heard promise after promise but have seen absolutely no delivery. Meanwhile, Audit Scotland has been crystal clear that our NHS is unsustainable without urgent reform, but reform is precisely what the SNP has failed to deliver. Look at its flagship policy, the so- called national care service. We could all see how flawed the idea was, as could the trade unions, COSLA and countless other experts, but the SNP pressed on regardless.”
“Targets are missed and promises broken, but the Government’s response is more empty announcements that are light on detail and heavy on spin. Just two days ago, First Minister John Swinney fatally undermined his health secretary, Neil Gray, by making a grand show of pledging 150,000 extra appointments and procedures in the coming year. Like a self-styled interim health minister, he promised reductions in waiting times, the tackling of delayed discharge and a modernising of the NHS, but who does he think he is fooling? The people of Scotland know better because they have seen that movie before. In 2015, the then health secretary, Shona Robison, pledged to eliminate delayed discharges by the end of that year. She failed and, since that broken promise, more than 3,000 Scots have died while waiting to be discharged from hospital.”
“I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a practising NHS GP. Today, we are being asked by the SNP Government to celebrate its draft Scottish budget for 2025-26, a budget that it claims invests in Scotland’s public services. However, let us not be blinded by hollow headlines and empty rhetoric. The truth is that, after 18 long years of SNP rule, the Government’s record is one of failure, mismanagement and broken promises. Let us begin with Scotland’s NHS, which the SNP claims to prioritise. As a GP on the front line, I see the impact of the Government’s incompetence every week. Patients wait months or even years for appointments and treatments while GPs, nurses and hospital staff all struggle under intolerable pressure.”
“[Interruption.] The Deputy Presiding Officer: Excuse me. Please resume your seat, minister. When one person has the floor, no other member has the floor. [Interruption.] Dr Gulhane, please do not take on the authority of the chair. Please resume, minister. Maree Todd: Today, I have set out a plan that I believe that all of us can get behind. We will remove part 1 of the bill, which is the most contentious part of the bill, and we will continue with parts 2 and 3, which contain work that we cannot proceed with without primary legislation, and which are parts of the bill that the majority of members of this Parliament are on the record as supporting. I will continue to work until I have delivered the change that people who access social care want to see.”
“We have listened carefully to what people have told us. We have listened carefully to the voices of lived experience. We have listened carefully to the recommendations of the Feeley review. We have listened carefully to our institutional stakeholders and the members of the different political parties in the chamber. Everyone agrees that change is needed in social care. No one is accepting of the status quo. I have listened extremely carefully, and I am trying—very carefully—to navigate a way forward. We all agree that there are problems in social care. What we do not agree on is a way forward. Dr Gulhane is absolutely correct. The Tories have been opposed to our proposed legislation from its very conception, yet they have not come forward with a single alternative idea on how to improve social care.”
“Sandesh Gulhane: In any other organisation across Scotland, such failure— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Dr Gulhane, could you please just ask your question? Sandesh Gulhane: —would lead to sackings and resignations. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Dr Gulhane, please resume your seat. Sandesh Gulhane: Will Neil Gray and Maree Todd do the right thing and accept responsibility for their monumental failure and resign? [Interruption.] The Deputy Presiding Officer: Excuse me. I say to members that we need to get through this item of business, and that we need to get in as many members as possible to ask questions. If I have to keep interrupting to keep order, fewer members will get to ask their question, and I do not think that that is what members want. Maree Todd: I thank the member for his question—I think.”
“Following today’s hapless and tone-deaf statement by Maree Todd, which has shown the NCS proposal collapsing after a humiliating display of arrogance, failure and sheer waste, the SNP Government could not be trusted to run a bath, let alone be trusted with our health and social care service. We have a shower of charlatans before us, who have failed people who need social care, failed social care workers and failed Scotland. Today’s statement amounts to the failure of a flagship policy. Party has been put before people. In any other organisation across Scotland, such failure would lead to sackings and resignations. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Dr Gulhane, I need a question from you, please.”
“I declare an interest: I am a practising NHS general practitioner. The national care service was the Scottish National Party’s flagship healthcare policy, as promised at the 2021 election, to fix the care crisis. However, four years later, almost £30 million has been wasted, which could have paid for the salaries of 1,200 social care workers. From day 1, the Scottish Conservatives were against the bill and repeatedly called for investment in front-line care. The SNP has failed to listen, just as it has failed to listen to experts, trade unions and councils, which agree that the bill is fatally flawed. However, the SNP stubbornly ploughed on, throwing good money after bad.”
“Jenni Minto: I agree that we want to have the best 24-hour service that we can have, which is why we plan to invest an additional £16 million in thrombectomy services if the budget passes. We are working closely with stakeholders to understand why the current thrombectomy rates are lower than those that were predicted via modelling. We are also working with them to understand the needs in each area, because we must understand that it is not only about money, but also about the workforce. Mental Health Services (Funding) 2.”
“I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a practising NHS general practitioner. In my region—Glasgow, which is the largest city in Scotland—a person should only have a stroke on a Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm, because that is the only time when anyone can get a thrombectomy. Let us contrast that with Edinburgh, where it is available seven days a week. There is significant inequality of access to life-changing and life-saving thrombectomy, and the situation is even worse for people who live in rural areas, where travelling by road is hit or miss. Warm words will not cut it. Will the Scottish Government commit to funding the nationwide, round-the-clock service that Scots deserve? What will it do to ensure that that is available to everyone?”
“We will continue to improve the approach to risk assessment, and we will take a joined-up approach with the other UK nations. The member also suggested improvements on transparency, which is addressed in recommendation 8. We have accepted that recommendation in principle, and we have agreed to regular reporting. I have already set out the timescales for the first report, which will be laid this summer. Rather than wait indefinitely, we have set out a clear timescale, and we would expect Parliament to scrutinise that first report.”
“Recommendation 6 talks about the need for there to be “a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years.” That is a direct quote from the chair’s recommendations; we are not suggesting that that is our response. We are committed to participating in the tier 1 national exercise programme, which seeks to exercise responses to a range of risks rather than just a pandemic, to make sure that we are prepared for any eventuality. I am sure that, as a practising GP, the member will know that those risks come in all shapes and sizes and that many of them are difficult to forecast. The member mentioned risk assessment. Recommendation 3 calls for a better approach to risk assessment, and we have accepted that recommendation.”
“We watched the relentless march of Covid across Europe and knew that vulnerable groups would be most affected, yet inadequate protocols were in place to protect them. What will the Scottish Government do differently next time? Kate Forbes: I thank the member for that series of questions. I hope that, in time, as he re-reads our response to the chair’s report, he will see the way in which we have set out clearly our acceptance of the recommendations that have been made by the chair and the fact that we have attached clear actions and timescales to each of our responses. The member made three particular points, one of which concerned pandemic exercises.”
“The pandemic exposed stark health inequalities affecting Scotland’s most deprived communities and those who are most vulnerable. Without clear leadership and meaningful reform, the SNP risks repeating past mistakes, leaving Scotland unprepared for the next crisis. The Deputy First Minister talks about adopting a UK-wide strategy, but that sounds hollow given that Ms Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff, wanted “a good old-fashioned rammy” with the UK Government. While the rest of the UK was developing an NHS app, the SNP Government decided that Scotland would go its own way for the sake of being divergent. How can we avoid that divergence in future policy and continue to work in a four-nations manner?”
“I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a practising general practitioner. The Covid-19 report casts serious doubt on the ability of the Scottish Government to address key failings that occurred during the pandemic. One major concern is the lack of detail on how the Scottish Government plans to overhaul risk assessment and pandemic planning. The Scottish National Party needs to act decisively to update frameworks to respond to new threats and run regular scenario tests. Transparency is another issue. Regular bedtime deletion of WhatsApp messages means that we will never know the reasoning behind centralised decision making and the lack of involvement of key stakeholders.”
“A significant uplift has been achieved despite the fiscal challenges that all portfolios face, which reflects the value that the Government places on culture in Scotland. With a £34 million boost in 2025-26, the budget brings the Scottish Government halfway to reaching its five-year commitment to provide at least £100 million more annually for the sector by 2028-29. I can also confirm that, for 2026-27, subject to the normal budget processes, our aim is to deliver a further £20 million increase for the sector.”
“Angus Robertson: Sandesh Gulhane’s point is timeous, given the concerns that have been raised around the commissioning of public service broadcasting in Scotland. If he has an interest in that area, I would be interested to hear not just his views but those of his constituents who have raised their concerns. I share some of those concerns about public service commissioning in relation to productions in Scotland. No doubt we will hear more about that in the weeks and months ahead. I turn to the budget issue, which everybody agrees is key. I am sure that everybody is aware of the Scottish Government’s proposals for a draft budget, which, if the Scottish Parliament passes it in February, will be transformational for the culture sector.”
“Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention? Angus Robertson: I would be delighted to give way to Sandesh Gulhane. Sandesh Gulhane: Glasgow is full of culture and it is a fantastic city. However, on the point that you have just made about Screen Scotland and all the work in the film industry, multiple people who work across the creative industries—particularly in the film industry and TV—have approached me to say that jobs are increasingly hard to get. They also talk about being unemployed over the Christmas period and only sometimes picking up work. What will the Government do about that? The Deputy Presiding Officer: Always speak through the chair, please. Cabinet secretary, I can give you the time back.”
“Child poverty is not, as the SNP would have us think, simply about the income of the family; it is about so much more. The uncomfortable truth is that social security policies do not tackle the root causes of deprivation, wage stagnation, unemployment, poor housing and health inequalities. Let me bring this closer to home. I have long advocated for better healthcare investment in the Drumchapel community in Glasgow. The Drumchapel health centre serves a population that faces significant deprivation and we need basic infrastructure to be put in. The population faces significant deprivation, poor housing, low incomes and high rates of chronic illness. As a general practitioner, I see the difference that primary care can make to local communities.”
“Time and again, the SNP’s true priority has been independence. The SNP asserts that independence is the magic wand for a better Scotland, but let us be honest: the economics simply do not add up. Independence would pile financial strain on families who are already struggling. The promise of independence as a cure-all is not just misleading; it is a dangerous distraction from child poverty rates in Scotland, which remain stubbornly high on the SNP’s watch. Since the SNP took power in 2007, almost a quarter of our children still live in poverty, with the figure at an estimated 240,000 every year between 2020 and 2023. Although social security measures are valuable, they are constrained by funding issues and administrative inefficiencies.”
“Tackling child poverty should be a moral imperative for any Government, but it is not about having good intentions; it is about real and lasting change. Sadly, the measures that the SNP proposes, although well meaning, fall short of delivering the transformative solutions that our most deprived communities desperately need. Poverty is not just about money; it is actually about deprivation, which is a deeper and more insidious issue that shapes a child’s future. Deprivation means living without basic opportunities and facing barriers to quality healthcare, housing and education. Deprivation in communities locks families into cycles of disadvantage that financial handouts alone cannot break. The SNP claims that eradicating child poverty is its single greatest priority, but is it really?”
“The investment that has been made in NHS 24 to ensure that there is an additional level of staffing available, which I was able to see prior to Christmas, and which the First Minister has been able to see in his visits, has meant that the service has been able to respond well to the increased level of demand over the festive period. I am very grateful to everybody for the work that they have carried out over that difficult and challenging period.”
“Those elements include the expansion of the hospital at home service and the work to ensure that flow navigation centres have been able to provide virtual access to accident and emergency services. Our winter plan has worked in a range of areas to ensure that we have been able to respond to the impact on our systems of what I believe to be unprecedented levels of flu in recent years. With regard to NHS 24 and the statistics that Dr Gulhane quoted in respect of those who choose to relinquish their call, there is a call-back service in place, which will have contributed to some of those people choosing to hang up. Nevertheless, I recognise that some people will have had to wait too long, and I apologise for that.”
“Our general practitioners—as I have said before and I say again—are integral to our health and social care system, and I am grateful to all those who worked over the Christmas period to respond to the pressures that we have seen. Dr Gulhane is right to recognise the severity of flu and the impact that it has had on our system, which has been clear and real. I saw the impact in the visits that I made before Christmas, and the First Minister has seen it in his visits over the weekend. With regard to the winter plan, I have pointed to many of its successful elements, which have been developed and delivered thanks to the incredible work of our health and social care providers.”
“What assurances can he provide to rural patients and to my rural GP colleagues that those are not just empty words? Neil Gray: I thank Sandesh Gulhane for his service, along with all those GPs and other health and social care staff who contributed to responding to the health and social care pressures over Christmas. I recognised in my statement that GPs have opened their surgeries at weekends in order to provide support to the whole system, which has helped to make sure that the resilience has been there both in hours and out of hours, as has Dr Gulhane’s service. I also referred to the work that GPs have been doing in supporting the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24, as well as flow navigation services.”
“I have been telling the cabinet secretary that his winter plan is not worth the paper that it was written on, as was shown by November’s accident and emergency waiting times being the worst on record since 2007, when the Scottish National Party came to power. The cabinet secretary said that recruitment for NHS 24 has been a success, but some desperate people who called NHS 24 had to wait for more than four hours, and more than 100,000 calls were abandoned due to people waiting too long. What is the cabinet secretary doing to ensure that 111 has the capacity to deliver? Over the past decade, there has been an almost 10 per cent decrease in the number of rural GP practices, despite the cabinet secretary claiming today that accessible treatment is being provided for remote, rural and island communities.”
“I declare an interest as a practising NHS GP who was working over the Christmas period. I thank all staff who provided care for us during the Christmas period. [Interruption.] It seems that people do not like the fact that I was working over the Christmas period, Presiding Officer. [Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Please carry on. Members—let us hear Dr Gulhane. Sandesh Gulhane: Flu is not simply a cold. It is a serious and potentially fatal illness. I urge anyone who is in a high-risk group to go and get their vaccination. The cabinet secretary has boasted of the number of vaccinations that have been delivered, but that number actually represents a 25 per cent reduction in the number of vaccinations delivered compared with last year.”