Supporting the NHS in Winter  (Amendment 1)
S6M-06437.1: As an amendment to motion S6M-06437 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Supporting the NHS in Winter), leave out from “that record” to end and insert “about the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the health of the people of Scotland and on the operation of the National Health Service; acknowledges that, as a result, Scotland’s NHS and care services face deep pressures, with 884 patients with COVID-19 currently in hospital; recognises that, as a result of increases in inflation, the health budget is worth around £650 million less than in December 2021; notes that the £600 million Health and Social Care winter plan supports recruitment of 1,000 additional staff, and includes over £120 million to help health and social care partnerships expand care at home capacity; welcomes that, in the face of these challenges, the NHS has been steadily increasing activity levels; recognises the exceptional work of NHS staff through the pandemic and beyond, and that the NHS Agenda for Change pay offer would see the lowest paid staff in NHS Scotland getting an increase of over 11% and qualified nursing staff seeing an increase of up to 8.45%; further recognises that if the offer is accepted, an experienced porter will be paid up to £2,502 more than their counterparts in England and Wales; recognises that, similarly, an experienced paramedic and staff nurse will be paid up to £2,186 more than their counterparts in England and Wales, and understands that the £50 million investment in improving unscheduled care has addressing long waits as a key area of focus.”

Original motion(S6M-06437):
That the Parliament is deeply concerned that record numbers of patients are waiting over eight and 12 hours in A&E on a weekly basis; acknowledges that hospital capacity continues to be constrained by thousands of bed days lost due to delayed discharge; recognises the tireless work of the NHS staff who care for patients in increasingly difficult and safety critical situations; notes that the Scottish Ministers have not yet resolved the nurses’ and NHS staff pay claim risking industrial action during the winter period; considers the Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plan and Winter Plan to be inadequate with the new interim targets to reduce waiting times being missed and no additional funding for the impending winter crisis, and calls for the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to either set out a clear plan to end waiting times of more than eight hours ahead of winter, or to resign.