Brian Whittle
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party · Scotland
“As Jamie Halcro Johnston said, roads, rail networks and ferries—we keep coming back to ferries—are key to keeping those communities where they are and stopping migration away from them. The chamber will welcome the fact that this— eventually—is my last speech in this parliamentary session.”
“Speaking as somebody who got his first mobile phone—a brick of a thing—at the age of 32, I find that quite astonishing. It is important that pupils have the opportunity to put their phones down in school, but also important is what happens outside school.”
“As always, I want to introduce a slightly different approach to the subject and so I will talk about how we should develop health policy. We must start from the position that services should be available to our communities no matter where they are, whether they are urban, rural or on islands.”
“It is interesting that the girls attitudes survey carried out by Girlguiding UK in 2025 found that girls are restricting their online activity in order to protect themselves, with more than a third of respondents reporting that they avoid using certain apps and platforms in order to protect themselves.”
“It is a pleasure to follow Beatrice Wishart, who, as we all know, has been a real champion for her communities in the time that she has spent here.”
“That was an interesting question from Mr Harvie, as the Scottish Greens have spent the majority of this session of Parliament demonising our farmers and food producers.”
The complete record
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“However, there are times of peak demand when the use of agency and locum staff is clearly important. We continue to have conversations with all boards around their pressures this winter. This week, I am standing up the winter resilience meetings—they were held last year through Christmas and new year—and I expect conversations on that subject and on boards’ ability and resilience to respond to come through in those discussions.”
“As the cabinet secretary is aware, NHS Ayrshire and Arran is under extreme financial pressure, which is in no small part due to high levels of expensive agency staff. Given that the higher prevalence of flu cases will inevitably put greater pressure on staff numbers through sickness absence, has the cabinet secretary considered the possibility of emergency financial support to the board to prevent high levels of staff absence from making a bad situation worse? Neil Gray: We continue to support the resilience of all boards, all year round. I note—as Brian Whittle will—the substantial reduction in the utilisation of agency staff across the national health service over the past couple of years. That is better for our staffing establishment, and it provides better continuity of care.”
“In those fields there is a chronic lack of people, against the backdrop, in Ayrshire and across Scotland, of a demand for apprenticeships in engineering and trades, which would lead to very highly skilled and well-paid jobs. Ayrshire College turned away 400 applicants for engineering apprenticeships because of a lack of funding. It turned away 120 applicants for trades. Imagine if we were able to offer those young people the existing local opportunities that they strive for. I am short of time, so I have to ask a question. Why is the Scottish Government resisting? It can create the skills environment that draws our pupils in. It can create an environment that encourages and enthuses our pupils and gives them hope and aspiration for what living and working in Scotland can be. 16:02”
“Does he agree that the piece of primary legislation that is before Parliament is important in that regard, because it will bring together the funding for universities, colleges and apprenticeships, so that we can be creative and agile in the offer that we make to people and achieve greater efficiency and value for money for the taxpayer? Brian Whittle: I appreciate the minister’s intervention, but the committee could not even commit to that. I think that what the bill proposes is extraordinarily expensive. The only thing that matters is outcomes. In the case of the healthcare sector, I have described obvious steps that would widen access to education and deliver against a really urgent need. While we are on the subject of apprenticeships, I want to once again raise the issue that we face in engineering and trades.”
“For some potential nurses and midwives, an apprenticeship route would be more appropriate—especially for those who are looking to upskill from a healthcare environment. More than a third of trainee midwives are over the age of 30, which means that many of them will have to give up careers to train or that they already have children or mortgages and so on. Currently, in order to train they would have to leave work to go for a university place. Surely that barrier can be easily removed with an apprenticeship pathway. Ben Macpherson: I agree with Brian Whittle’s overall sentiment that we need to create greater parity of esteem and different pathways into professions and careers.”
“I talked then about Ayrshire College, and colleagues from across the chamber described exactly the same problem in their regions—all those students who want to get into a college, who want to apply for a course and who want to get into careers for which we are crying out for workers, and yet they are being turned away. Another example is that we are short of doctors, and yet applications from Scottish pupils are being turned away, even when the pupils have the qualifications to get on the course. That is because an artificial cap has been put in place by the Scottish Government. There is an obvious solution—shift the cap. I do not understand why the Scottish Government will not instruct the obvious. We are short of nurses and midwives, so let us make it easier for pupils to apply for those courses.”
“The Scottish Government is still sticking to its line that immigration is the only solution. That is lazy politics and an abdication of responsibility. Pam Duncan-Glancy: I am enjoying the member’s contribution on the concerns around the number of people who are being turned away from colleges. Does he agree that it is also a tragedy that 1,200 students applied for places at Glasgow Kelvin College but there were only 300 places available to allocate? Brian Whittle: I thank Pam Duncan-Glancy for her intervention; the same point was made in the chamber yesterday.”
“University is entirely the right place for some pupils, but in recent times, pushing young people down the university route seems to be the only measurement of success, to the detriment of our colleges. The Scottish Government has continued to erode the FE sector, with tens of thousands of places cut in recent years. If we are discussing need, let us talk about healthcare. Only yesterday, in the social care debate, I highlighted that Ayrshire College had to turn away 71 applications for social care courses purely on funding grounds. That issue was echoed by colleagues across the chamber in relation to their areas. We all know how short of care workers the system is. It is described as a crisis, yet we are turning away people who would work in that sector.”
“of graduates feel overqualified for their jobs and are more likely to be underemployed, underpaid or working part-time, than graduates whose jobs match their qualifications.” The CIPD recommends that we “Provide better careers advice”— as we have already heard from Miles Briggs— “and guidance to help young people understand alternative vocational pathways.” The CIPD also wants to “Expand Scotland’s existing modern, foundation and graduate apprenticeships to encourage vocational pathways and work-based learning.” Expanding access to higher education must start at primary and secondary school, with careers advice that speaks to and highlights opportunity.”
“I read a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development entitled, “What is the scale and impact of graduate overqualification in Scotland?” It suggested that more than “a third ...”
“What the Scottish Government has presided over is far removed from that ideal. It seems to me that, if someone is academically minded and does well in an exam environment, there is a route through school and into university. The Scottish Government, as we have heard, is always keen to push for an increase in university attendance, especially in the lower SIMD areas. Of course, equity of access across all demographics is an extremely important goal that I am sure we all share, but surely it is not just about attending university but about getting an appropriate education that leads to a fulfilling and engaging career, especially by highlighting where local opportunities are available.”
“I thank the Education, Children and Young People Committee for its comprehensive report on accessing further education and for the opportunity to highlight the importance of getting a great education and ensuring that it is accessible to all. I listened to my colleague Jamie Hepburn—I am a product of the University of Glasgow, too. I have also been through college and through the Open University. Many people have tried to educate me, and yet I still stand here. [Laughter.] We need a further education sector that offers equity of access for pupils with a passion and a drive to succeed in their chosen field of study. We need an education system that speaks to an economic need locally and more generally across Scotland and that matches that need with careers advice and a straightforward pathway into that career.”
“We are aiming for a situation in which each university will be expected to match or exceed its highest proportion to date of entrants from the 20 per cent most deprived areas. As I said, we recognise that there is more work to do, and we continue to work with the Scottish Funding Council on that. This really matters, not just for social justice, but to ensure that we maximise the human potential in our communities. Our people are our biggest resource as a country, so widening access matters. We have made significant progress. The committee’s work on the subject is important and the recommendations are helpful. I look forward to working with members across the chamber on those and to hearing members’ contributions to the debate. 15:20”
“In all Government considerations, we need to be very clear that any data sharing is done in a safe and secure way, that the systems are efficient and optimal in ensuring that the data cuts across, and that there is good value for money for the taxpayer. I appreciate that there are identifying numbers for patients in the health system and tax references for individuals. However, as previous ministers have emphasised, when it comes to this issue, consideration is required across different entities including, for example, independent bodies such as universities, so it is more complicated. We also must ensure that we are considerate of costs. I am conscious of time. There is a lot more that the report covers, and I am looking forward to listening to what colleagues have to say in the debate.”
“Will the minister take an intervention? Douglas Ross: Will the minister take an intervention? Ben Macpherson: Two members are on their feet. I will take Brian Whittle’s intervention. Brian Whittle: I am grateful to the minister for taking so many interventions. I am slightly concerned about the Government’s reticence across a lot of portfolios to implement artificial intelligence and tech. A unique learner number is hardly different from the community health index number in healthcare. What is the resistance to the idea? Ben Macpherson: This Parliament, even in my time here, has had many debates on systems and data sharing, be it in relation to social security, the considerations around named persons or other subjects.”
“I thank Elena Whitham for bringing a debate on this subject to the chamber, and I express to her my admiration for the way in which she insists that we tackle subjects that are extremely difficult to raise, all the time. As Elena Whitham indicated, bereavement comes along in very different forms and, more importantly, there are different ways in which we deal with it. Inevitably, as we get older, we lose people. There is a circle of life, as she indicated. We usually lose our grandparents first, and older members of our family, and eventually our parents. However, as we age, it is likely that we will lose people—people whom we feel that we should not lose. I am sorry, Deputy”
“How much more accurate could that history be if their social care package included data from sensors in their home on how often they get up in the night, the temperature in their home or how frequently they lose their balance? The technology to do all of that exists—it is not even complicated—and with that information we could transform patient care and deliver more effective workforce planning. All that seems to be lacking is the political will to make it happen. Health and social care are inextricably linked yet, today, they are fragmented rather than aligned. They are spending time competing for scarce resources rather than co-operating to put them to their best use. That must change, because neither can survive without the other. 15:48”
“Proper workforce planning is not simply about how many staff are in particular roles, where they are located, or who is leaving and who is coming into the profession. It is also about ensuring that there is career progression so that we can attract new staff and retain the vital knowledge and experience of existing staff. I want to look at the revolutionary potential of technology as an example. What would health and social care look like in a world in which the patient’s entire medical history could be analysed by software and used to predict what care they are likely to need both before they arrive in hospital and once they are discharged?”
“The stress on the system, with a lack of investment, is starving essential services. The irony is that that eventually creates problems in our NHS. Delayed discharge from hospitals will never be solved if the sector that provides post- discharge support is fighting just to keep its head above water. Fantastic innovations are under way. Some health boards are using care home spaces for more appropriate step-down care for patients so that they do not have to languish in hospital beds waiting for care packages. That must be considered more formally for those areas in which that solution is appropriate. However, there can be no solution to the crisis in social care if we do not address the workforce challenges.”
“In the context of the NHS, successive Scottish Governments have prioritised ever-greater inputs, with more staff, higher salaries and more money, while ignoring outcomes and solutions such as interoperable and integrated technology. The term “interoperable” was unfamiliar to the then Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport when she declined to support my stage 3 amendment during consideration of the farcical Care Reform (Scotland) Bill because she did not understand it and did not like the Google definition. That is why the SNP has achieved record-high spending but record-low outcomes, despite the incredible efforts of our healthcare professionals. The Scottish Government has let down both patients and our health professionals. In social care, the situation is, if anything, worse.”
“If we are going to debate social care and its funding, we must recognise our own failings, and responsibility for the way in which we fund training in the social care sector lies at the feet of the Scottish Government. The failings that we are talking about today are consequences of a whole series of decisions that successive Governments have taken over the years, not merely on social care but on health and healthcare. They have failed to think for the long term and see that social care is on a par with healthcare, and they have failed to properly integrate health and social care. Although we may have spent years correctly identifying the issues in the social care workforce, we have failed to take the necessary steps to address them.”
“I have already raised that matter in the chamber. If you are going to have a debate on staffing in the healthcare service, you must recognise your own failings, and that is one of them, for sure. I give way to the cabinet secretary. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I remind the member to speak through the chair. Please be brief, cabinet secretary. Neil Gray: It is not just me saying that. I was quoting the sector and sector leaders, who have referenced the fact that migration policy at Westminster is destroying our ability to employ staff in the social care sector. Brian Whittle: I do not think that those are quite the words that were used.”
“I rise to close on behalf of the Conservatives. It is disappointing that this has been such a short debate. As my colleague Sandesh Gulhane said, we should have discussed how the 700,000 unpaid carers interact with healthcare, because we have certainly not got that right. Similarly, we could have discussed social work, palliative care and the role of the third sector, all of which are important topics for debate in their own right. I listened to the cabinet secretary and SNP back benchers use the usual excuses of visas and migration for the lack of places in our social care service. Neil Gray: Will the member give way? Brian Whittle: I will give way in a second. Meanwhile, in my constituency, Ayrshire College had to turn away 71 applicants for apprenticeships in social care because the funding was not there.”
“The reimagining is not necessarily through choice or because we want the games to be smaller, but in order to ensure their sustainability into the future. We are all aware of why we are hosting in 2026 and why others have had to step in in the past. The opportunity to enhance sport is absolutely at the heart of what I will be looking to do alongside the minister for sport, Maree Todd. Through the budget process, we will be looking to ensure that we can support team Scotland going into the games. The issues that Mr Whittle has raised have been raised with us at meetings with sports governing bodies, and we will give them serious attention during the budget process.”
“How does the cabinet secretary propose that the games will deliver a meaningful legacy when funding cuts by his Government have left so much of Scottish sport finding it harder and harder to stay afloat? Neil Gray: There are a couple of points to respond to, and the first is the point about the scaled-down games. They were scaled down so that we can work with Commonwealth Sport on reimagining what the Commonwealth games can be and to encourage others to bid to hold them. The fact that Nigeria was in the running and that, for the first time, there was the prospect of an African nation being able to host the Commonwealth games is a legacy of Glasgow that we hope can be sustained towards 2034. We hope that we will see more nations being able to bid to hold the games.”
“The cabinet secretary rightly spoke about the opportunity that the Commonwealth games bring to Glasgow and Scotland. The legacy of the games, however scaled down, must include a committed effort to support Scottish sport. However, we have Glasgow school of sport closing down, and sports facilities such as the national hockey centre are in really poor condition, with players being unable to access changing rooms, and we have organisations representing more than 30 different sports across Scotland writing to the Scottish Government to say that funding is now critically low. All the while, the First Minister stands in the chamber refusing to repeat his manifesto commitment to double sports funding.”
“Will the member take an intervention? Lorna Slater: I will not take any more interventions. Production peaked in 1999, at 4.4 million barrels a day. The figure is now down to about half a million barrels a day, so there has been an annual decline of 7 per cent, and each barrel is more expensive to extract than the last.”
“It is fine when cliff edges appear on the horizon, because we can prepare for them, but when they are introduced by punitive fiscal policies, which ExxonMobil accused the Labour Government of, hell mend us all. To have a just transition, we need a fiscal policy that supports workers in the supply chain and beyond. 15:55”
“I see that Sarah Boyack is shaking her head; she is obviously pleased that the EPL continues. However, as long as the EPL continues in its current form, 1,000 jobs will be lost each month. That will not affect oil and gas workers directly; those jobs will be in the supply chains, and in cafes, restaurants and cinemas—the other sectors in the community that depend on their clientele and people having money in their pocket. It will affect the community that I represent, as well as Fife, Grangemouth and further afield. It is not just a north-east problem or an oil and gas problem; it has a wide reach. To be honest, people need to wake up to the fact that this is not about ideology; it is about protecting people’s lives in a managed just transition that must happen—but it must happen without cliff edges.”
“However, it is not happening, because the companies do not have the headroom to do it given the 78 per cent profits levy that they currently face. The supply chain starts to lose confidence, as well. Many supply-chain companies let people go, and people lose jobs. The people who have lost their jobs go elsewhere, to other parts of the world, and we will be lucky to get any of them back. We increase our demand for importing natural gas from elsewhere to heat our buildings for as long as they are heated with natural gas, because we are not producing enough of it domestically. I understand why Sarah Boyack and Rhoda Grant did not want to dwell on the EPL—they must be secretly disappointed that there was not an announcement in Rachel Reeves’s budget statement today.”
“I make no apology for focusing on the energy profits levy, because it is the single issue that every single supply-chain company, whether it works with renewables, oil and gas or a mixture of the two, has continually highlighted to me and to others. Those companies say that the effect of the EPL is damaging their viability, and they are seriously worried about the impact that that is having. What actually happens when we have an oil and gas industry that has no headroom to invest or to do anything other than just keep production at a low level? The industry does not invest in decommissioning, which would create thousands of jobs. Decommissioning was supposed to fill the gap between the decline in the production of oil and gas and the ramping up of ScotWind.”
“I had an issue with the fact that other sectors that also had excess profits were not being taxed in the same way, and I commented at the time that I thought that it was unfair to single out one particular sector when others were making so much profit— Craig Hoy: Will the cabinet secretary give way? Gillian Martin: No, I will not, because Craig Hoy did not contribute to the debate. I also make no apology for focusing— Patrick Harvie: Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention? The Deputy Presiding Officer: Is the cabinet secretary taking any interventions from the gentlemen who have just offered to intervene? Gillian Martin: No—I am going to continue, because I ran out of time in my opening speech, and I am not going to run out of time in this one.”
“I did not think that I would be using a lot of my time to respond to some of the accusations that have been put to me— [Interruption.] I would also like to be able to hear myself speak as I rebut some of the comments— [Interruption.] It is all very well for members to quote from a debate in 2022, when we were all in agreement that there had to be a levy on excess profits. Every member across the chamber agreed in 2022 that there were excess profits, but, by spring 2023, those profits were absolutely plummeting, and that was starting to affect investment. The Scottish Government, along with others, therefore called for the EPL to be scrapped. That is the fact of the matter, and I make no apology for initially supporting what was meant to be a temporary situation where there were excess profits.”
“That is the future to which Scottish Labour is committed, maximising the opportunities, with new jobs created right across the country delivering confidence in supply chains; supporting new manufacturing opportunities; investing in renewables; and making our homes, buildings and transport, and our industry, fit for the challenges of the future. That is the future that our Parliament should back today. 15:50 Gillian Martin: I did not really expect to have to correct quite a lot of misinformation that is coming through in the debate—[Interruption.] Actually, I will rephrase that.”
“The SNP has criticised Tory austerity and ignored the additional public spending that our Labour Government has already delivered. That is £5.2 billion already this year, and my understanding is that, when we add in what was announced in today’s budget, there will be £10.3 billion in total for the Scottish Government. We can continue with the decade of division, delay or missed opportunity, or choose a path where oil and gas workers are supported; renewables are accelerated; people’s bills come down; and we have a clean, green energy powerhouse that is built in Scotland.”
“We also need a joined-up approach when considering the benefits of capturing heat from waste and from data centres, to ensure that we use the additional electricity, instead of paying £1.5 billion in constraint payments. We must ensure that we make the right investment. I agree with the cabinet secretary about the opportunities to decarbonise existing oil and gas platforms, including through making links to offshore floating wind, considering low-carbon technology and investing in new shipping. Rhoda Grant’s comments about ScotWind were bang on. It could have delivered so much more in terms of both income and Scottish manufacturing. Our approach is rooted in partnership with workers, businesses and communities. Part of me is not surprised that, today, the SNP has focused on the EPL.”
“Funding of up to £20 million will be provided by the UK and Scottish Governments, following demand for the Aberdeen skills pilot to help oil and gas workers to retrain. Transitional energy certificates will be critical in supporting the management of existing North Sea fields for the entirety of their lifespans, and a new jobs brokerage service will offer end-to-end career transition support. That will result in more skilled Scottish jobs and more opportunities for the green industries of the future to drive our economic growth. We need our Governments to work together, whether in relation to project willow for Grangemouth or support for the workers at Mossmorran.”
“The UK Government is backing Scottish industry and jobs, including through £14.5 million for Grangemouth, £20 million for Inchgreen dry dock and the North Sea future plan for a fair, managed and prosperous transition. That will be critical, and it followed extensive consultation with workers and unions. The UK Government will establish the North Sea jobs service, a world-leading national employment programme that will offer tailored end-to-end support for members of the workforce who are seeking new opportunities, including in clean energy, defence and advanced manufacturing. The service will provide support at every step of a worker’s career journey, and it builds on the discussion that we have had in this Parliament about the energy skills passport.”
“What is needed for a just transition is to hold economic power democratically accountable, instead of leaving things to the self-interest of billionaires. 15:47 Sarah Boyack: On several occasions in the past few weeks, we have discussed the need for leadership and action to deliver a fair transition, with new jobs across the country, while supporting those in the oil and gas sector. Therefore, I welcome today’s announcement by the chancellor that she will tackle the cost of living for working families by cutting the cost of energy bills by, on average, £150 a year from April. Kevin Stewart: Will Ms Boyack give way on that point? Sarah Boyack: No.”
“Will Patrick Harvie take an intervention? Patrick Harvie: I do not have time. We have called on the UK Government to ensure that those in the fossil fuel industry, who have generated vast profits while causing the current climate emergency, pay enough tax to make a serious contribution to the cost of the transition, instead of the costs falling on the state alone. Fundamentally, that is what is missing from every other political party’s position on the crisis. The central reason why an unjust transition is taking place is that no Government is willing to hold to account the billionaires who sit behind the fossil fuel industry—those who have lined their pockets and are now putting their workers on the economic scrap heap, despite having caused an environmental crisis that will threaten all our futures.”
“It takes explicit account of the variation in need for healthcare due to age, sex profile, morbidity, life circumstances, local populations and the cost of delivering services across different geographies. We are providing significant support to the new interim chief executive of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Professor Gordon James, and I am confident that the rigour that he will bring to its finances and performance will see improvements for patients in the locality. Tooth Decay (Children) 2.”
“This morning, Auditor General Stephen Boyle described NHS Ayrshire and Arran as being in a “loop of unsustainability” since being escalated to level 3 on NHS Scotland’s support and intervention framework in 2018. That is seven years of Scottish Government support and the situation is getting worse, if anything. Does the cabinet secretary agree that seven years should have been more than enough time to see significant improvement? Is that lack of improvement a failure of the Scottish Government in its support, or is it an indication that the NHS Scotland resource allocation committee formula, which determines health board funding, is fundamentally flawed? Neil Gray: The NRAC formula is an objective measure of the needs of healthcare services across Scotland.”
“We remain committed to understanding the impact of the NPIs, as they are called, and learning lessons for the future about managing pandemics. However, I say quite clearly that the decision to implement NPIs, including lockdowns, was never taken lightly.”
“What does the cabinet secretary say to Scots who lost family members and livelihoods during the pandemic, who will be appalled by how politics influenced the Scottish Government’s decision making at a time when all decision making should have been scientifically backed? Kate Forbes: I say to those who are listening that decisions that the Scottish Government made involved judgment by ministers that was informed by scientific advice and other considerations, which included analysis of harms through the Scottish four harms process. Brian Whittle rightly referred to the hospitality sector. Having engaged with that sector on an almost weekly basis for two years, I understood intimately the extent of the brunt of the impact that it felt from some of the non-pharmaceutical interventions, including lockdowns.”
“The Covid inquiry exposed the deeply troubling way in which decisions were made by senior ministers and advisers during the pandemic. In a WhatsApp message about her own Covid rules for hospitality, Nicola Sturgeon said: “it’s all so random.” Her chief of staff wanted “a good old-fashioned rammy” with the UK Conservative Government about furlough policy and wrote in a notebook about “political tactics calling for things we can’t do to force the UK”. A civil servant who was working for John Swinney expressed concern that putting restrictions on Spain could endanger an independent Scotland joining the EU.”
“I apologise to the chamber for my late arrival—I had not realised that the timetable had changed. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the growth of the domestic supply chain for energy infrastructure. (S6O- 05183)”
“When I think of the south of Scotland, I can see that transport by rail and road are also part of the solution, because we are talking about creating communities that are sustainable and that offer good local services and give people opportunities to be part of those communities. Trying to apply urban solutions to rural areas and islands just will not work. 18:19”
“However, they should not have to accept that we do not get the very basics of healthcare right. I am a big advocate of the adoption and development of technology, including artificial intelligence. That approach would positively affect rural areas and islands to a greater extent than urban areas. That is one of the major solutions. We cannot just talk about health in isolation; we need to look at other services. Education is part of health, as is access to leisure services and the community participation that is associated with those facilities, which Craig Hoy talked about. Of course, in many ways, the problems that we face in relation to health are the same as those that we face in relation to those issues.”
“On the issues of health and how healthcare is delivered, I think that we should be looking at how we deliver the basic services to people across Scotland, no matter whether they live in rural or urban areas or on the islands, or what the demographics of that area are. People should be able to readily access their GPs, dentists, A and E departments, pharmacy services and—certainly— maternity services. However, the reality is that delivery in urban areas will be different from delivery in rural areas and on our islands. We have to take cognisance of that, because the reality is that that basic level of service has to apply across all our communities. Most people who live in a rural area will accept that they will have to travel for specialist treatment such as a knee or hip replacement.”
“Neither option is patient centred or able to produce a good patient outcome in this case. The fact is that there are no closer treatment services that do injections, and he does not feel confident enough to self-administer. I have listened to colleagues across the chamber, and particularly note what Douglas Ross said about the trauma that his constituent suffered. It strikes me that this issue is not just about poor patient outcomes, which is the most important thing, but is also about waste. What a waste all of this is in a system that is crying out for investment. When we talk about the need to clear out the waste and redistribute resources to the front line, the issues that have been raised today are exactly what we are talking about.”