Monday 3^rd November 2014

SYMPTOMS OF AN NHS STRUGGLING TO COPE

Last week in Parliament, Audit Scotland became the latest in a long line of organisations to warn about the significant pressures facing our National Health Service.

In a private briefing to the health committee which I convene, the financial watchdog raised serious concerns about the NHS’s ability to cope at a time when budgets are tightening and demand for health is increasing, due to the growing population of elderly people and those with long-term health conditions.

They also cited cost pressures such as the growing costs of drugs and other health technologies that are exacerbating the precarious financial situation.

Their report was quickly followed by an on the record briefing from health professionals who reinforced the concerns raised by the watchdog. To take one example, the Scottish Secretary of the British Medical Association said that a number of factors had come together to create a ‘perfect storm’ including economic pressures, a rising population and increased life expectancy.

Because of these pressures we have seen a weekly crisis as to whether A&E departments will have enough staff. We have levels of early planned retirement that has never been seen before.  And some health board areas are struggling to recruit consultants.

The message coming from the experts is clear. If we want the NHS’s reputation for world class care to continue then the Scottish Government must recognise the concerns and act quickly.

The Royal College of Nursing hit the nail on the head when it said: “instead of short term measures being taken to deal with the symptoms of an NHS struggling to cope, a cure needs to be found. We need an honest public debate on how we can put the NHS on a sustainable footing for the future and this need to take place now.”

Monday 27^th October 2014

DEMENTIA CARE

Being in hospital can be a daunting experience for anyone. But as the dementia care standards state, for a person with dementia whose ability to reason and remember is impaired, it can be particularly hard.

So it’s of concern that a recent report from Scotland’s health inspection agency, has said that in certain regards Inverclyde Royal Hospital is failing to provide the appropriate levels of care for people with dementia. 

Indeed, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) asked NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to make improvements in several areas, which the health board must address “as a matter of priority”.

HIS found a lack of information in care plans outlining the individual needs of patients. In one instance they found a patient who needed help with eating and drinking, but that this had not been recorded.

They also highlighted the lack of adaptions in wards to help orientate patients. They said that signage in the hospital was poor and ‘way finding’ could be difficult. Moreover, they said that the wards were very cluttered increasing the risk of falls.

Worryingly, there is nothing new in this report. Practically all the issues that have been raised were also highlighted in Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s very first inspection report published over two and a half years ago.

Rather than being pro-active in their approach, it would appear that the health board perceives each inspection as an event simply to get through.

The Scottish Government has published two dementia strategies in the last four years but we are still not seeing the vital improvements on the ground. They have been rich in policy but poor on delivery.

Its time it put its words into action, and ensures that when people with dementia are admitted to hospital, they are treated with dignity and respect at all times.

Monday 20^th October 2014

END CHILD POVERTY

One in four children in Inverclyde is living in poverty. This startling statistic was revealed in a study published last week by the End Child Poverty Campaign. The increased numbers of children in hardship is all the more shocking in that many of them are living in families with at least one parent working.

I hope these findings will act as a wake-up call for the Scottish Government which has failed to match it’s rhetoric with action and has implemented policies that are having a detrimental effect on children and families.

Its cuts to the housing budget have pushed rents up by over 20% since it came to power. Its decision to slash college places has made it more difficult for working people to gain access to lifelong education and build on their skills. Its failure to fully address childcare and after school costs have increased the burden on families, eating in to their disposable income.

And on the issue of low pay, it was a real disappointment when the Scottish Government voted down motions in the Parliament that would have linked the living wage with public contracts. This policy if implemented would have transformed the lives of many on low pay here in Inverclyde.

Reducing poverty, will in long-run help build a better society, put more people into work and reduce Scotland’s significant health inequalities. We need to move on from the rhetoric to action and bring an end to the hardship that children and families throughout Scotland are facing.

 In the last few days Nicola Sturgeon has said that her top priority as First Minister will be to create a fairer Scotland and to end child poverty. I look forward to her delivering on this promise. If she does so, she will certainly have my support.

Monday 13^th October 2014

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

An eventful week in the Scottish Parliament which quietly celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the building’s official opening by Her Majesty The Queen.

Johann Lamont MSP, Labour Leader in Scotland, came up with a novel idea for a politician, when called on the SNP Government and the other parties to put politics to one side when the future of our health service is at stake.

Johann also identified childcare as an issue where our Parliament can and should make progress.  There is obvious common ground across the major parties on the benefits of good childcare provision for children, for families and society.    Working together we can make it happen here in Scotland.

Finance Secretary, John Swinney also had his moment when he put forward his draft budget with new taxation and borrowing powers through the Scotland Act of 2012, allowing him to set out Scottish tax rates for the first time in 300 years.

Earlier  today, Lord Smith of Kelvin, the man leading the commission on more devolved powers for Scotland, brought together for the first time ever in Scotland all of the five political parties to discuss the future of the devolved settlement for Scotland in the UK.

The pressure is now on to bring about powers with a purpose. In the words of Donald Dewar, Scotland’s 1st First Minister “I look forward to the days ahead when men and women from all over Scotland will meet to work together for a future built from the first principals of Social Justice”.

Monday 6th October 2014

FOOD STANDARDS SCOTLAND 

We are what we eat. It goes without saying, if we don’t have a balanced diet the less healthy we are likely to be. Indeed, bad eating habits are the most significant cause of ill health in Scotland – even more than smoking. It is estimated that the cost of dealing with obesity is likely to rise to £3 billion per year by 2030.

This is in part why the Scottish Government has proposed to introduce a new food body the functions of which have been examined by the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee which I convene and which was the subject of debate in Parliament last week. Food Standard’s Scotland – as it will be called – will advise on how we improve the nation’s diet and nutrition to help people live longer healthier lives.

It will also have the overarching function of ensuring that food in Scotland is safe to eat. Although it is clear that the large majority of food produced in Scotland is indeed safe, it’s of real concern that 2,000 people per year are hospitalised due to food poisoning.

Here in Scotland the new body will be given greater powers which will ultimately help to reassure consumers and send out a strong signal that those organisations that fall below acceptable standards will not be let off lightly.

The Health & Sport Committee welcomes the fact that the Government and parties across the Parliament have agreed that the new agency will be a positive step forward to protect consumers and support the Scottish food and drink industry and their strong international reputation for safe quality food.

Monday 29^th September 2014

LET US UNITE

The Referendum campaign was long and hard fought. It was heated at times. Passions ran high. Heart-strings were pulled.

But now that it’s over and a decisive result confirmed across Scotland, it’s important that we return to normal politics and address the questions that matter to peoples’ everyday lives and which have been raised with me on the door steps.

How do we ensure work pays? How do we protect and enhance our health service? How do we help young people onto the housing ladder? How do we develop our childcare services?

Unfortunately, I fear a return to normal politics may take longer than I would like. Statements made by the First Minister and his deputy in the past week indicate that they have still not come to terms with the result. There have even been threats that another Referendum may be on the cards.

If we are to get back to normal politics, the ‘Yes’ side must accept that a clear majority of Scots want to remain within the United Kingdom, just as the ‘no’ campaign must recognise that the status quo is no longer an option.

They should also acknowledge that people voted ‘no’ not because they were feart but because they believed that change would best be achieved by staying in the UK.

We cannot waste another two years being distracted by the constitution, let us make a difference to people’s lives in the here and now by using the substantial powers the Scottish Parliament already has over things like housing, health, education, justice and social care.

Let us unite and find common ground so that we can achieve the real change that people are crying out for.

Monday 22^nd September 2014

BUILDING A FAIRER SCOTLAND

As I write this column, bleary eyed from just two hours of sleep, I can’t help but feel a sense of relief that the Referendum campaign has finally come to an end. I’m sure many of you will feel the same.

It’s been an exciting campaign of course, with the debates and discussions taking place on the doorsteps, in living rooms and town halls. I was heartened by the record turnout which saw over three and a half million people casting their votes and I’m glad that in the end the majority of Scots voted to stick together.

I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate all those who contributed to the debate on both sides and who argued passionately for what they believed to be in the best interests of their country and I hope the level of political engagement continues as we move forward.

The Yes side will understandably be disappointed.　 I have been on the losing end myself and it’s not nice. But I think we can all take some comfort from the great debate which has been taking place between neighbours, friends and family. And I think it’s important that as we move forward we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.

The final result was not just about the constitution. There is real desire among the people of Scotland to change the sort of country we want to be.

Now that we have settled the constitutional question, the challenge for us now, is to come together and harness the energy and enthusiasm that has been created as a result of the great debate, so that we can build the Scotland we want for our children and grandchildren. A Scotland which if fairer, more equal and more prosperous.

20th September 2010

A PRICE TOO HIGH

Unemployment is a price worth paying, a Tory chancellor once claimed.

As a community, we know how wrong those words proved to be as a generation of young people paid a very high price for the economic vandalism of that government.

With a Tory Chancellor in Downing Street once again, and a global recession to use as cover for the cuts agenda, we have to ensure the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated.

For Scotland, that battle to protect our communities from the Tory cuts begins at the Scottish Parliament.

But disappointingly, the SNP Government in Edinburgh has been found wanting in the fight to save Scottish jobs.

Figures this week show that unemployment in the last quarter grew in Scotland by 25,000 at a time when it fell across the UK.

Construction workers, nurses and teachers have all lost out to the Scottish Government’s broken promises.

And this all comes before George Osborne announces his swingeing cuts from Westminster, which will be tantamount to an assault on public services and jobs.

That is why the Scottish Government has to put jobs top of its priority list.

They can do that by taking on the Tories and helping to make the case for the aircraft carriers to be built in Govan and Rosyth, preserving thousands of jobs in the shipbuilding industry here in Inverclyde.

They can do that by kick-starting spending on building projects like the Glasgow Airport Rail Link that will create jobs in the construction industry.

And they can do that by getting to grips with our health and education services and create opportunities for would-be teachers and nurses who are currently unemployed.

Monday 15^th September 2014

PENSIONS FUTURE

In last week’s column, I took the opportunity to remind people of those things we have achieved as being part of the United Kingdom. 

One such achievement was the creation of the state pension which gives vital support to people in their later life.

The future of the state pension has been the most common issue raised with me on the doorsteps ahead of the Referendum on Thursday.

Perhaps this is no surprise, when you consider that there are 16,000 pensioners here in Inverclyde who received over £550 million in pension payments between 2007/8 and 2012/13.

What will happen to the state pension if Scotland separates from the UK? Will it be secure? How will it be funded? These are just some of the questions that have been asked.

But it’s not just here in Inverclyde that these concerns are being raised. A recent poll found the vast majority of Scotland’s pensioners are worried about the risk to their state pension if we leave the UK.

People are right to be concerned. Indeed, last year Finance Secretary John Swinney privately raised concerns with his cabinet colleagues about the affordability of state pensions in an Independent Scotland.

And when you consider that last year alone, Scotland received state pension payments of £6.78billion, it’s understandable why people are questioning how a population of five million would fund this, when there are so many other costs that would need to be covered in an Independent Scotland, including our public services such as the NHS.

With Scotland’s population ageing faster than the rest of the UK, the best way of ensuring our pensioners are supported is by spreading those increasing costs across 60 million people in the UK.

This is just one issue, out of many, which highlight the importance of sticking together.

Monday 8^th September 2014

UNITY IS STRENGTH

With the Referendum less than two weeks away, some of you reading this column will still be making up your minds on how to vote.

So let me tell you why I think we should remain as part of the United Kingdom.

As a labour party member and a trade unionist for over forty years, I believe that by the strength of our common endeavour we can achieve far more than we can achieve alone.

I believe this is a much bigger idea than the division and defeatism of nationalism.

By pulling and sharing our resources with our friends and neighbours in the rest of Britain we have achieved so much.

We defended our shores from fascism. We created a national health service free at the point of need.

We built a social security system that gives financial support in times of sickness or unemployment.

We created an education system that gives every child the right to free education and the state pension which helps 11.5 million pensioners across the country with 16,000 here in Inverclyde.

We introduced the minimum wage for all workers and maternity leave for our mothers.

 And of course here in Scotland we created the Scottish Parliament with the benefit of home rule over health, justice, transport and education, with powers over borrowing, taxation, and welfare to come.

I reject the pessimistic view that we are incapable of uniting with our friends and neighbours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to create the political will and action that can and will bring about a fairer and more prosperous society.

That is why I believe that sticking together is the bigger idea and that devolution for Scotland is the better idea and the reason I hope you will say NO thanks on the 18^th September.