Keeping Care Close to Home and Improving Outcomes (Amendment 1)
S6M-04567.1: As an amendment to motion S6M-04567 in the name of Kevin Stewart (Keeping Care Close to Home and Improving Outcomes), leave out from “welcomes" to end and insert “supports the focus on building and enhancing virtual capacity to support a sustainable future, providing alternatives to hospital and improving patient experience, but is concerned by the ongoing pressures across primary care in Scotland, with many patients experiencing persistent problems in accessing GP appointments and Allied Health Professionals (AHP) clinical care pathways; considers that the Scottish Government must ensure that patients who need to be seen in person can receive speedy treatment; regrets the Scottish Government’s failure to take decisive action in addressing the social care crisis, with people unable to access essential care packages and unpaid carers reaching breaking point, whilst the sector faces a recruitment and retention plight; recognises that this is having a severe impact on NHS services, with delayed discharge at record levels and persistently long waits in A&E; agrees that the establishment of a National Care Service cannot be used as an excuse to delay reforms, and calls on the Scottish Government to immediately deliver its commitment to end non-residential care charges, as well as reverse the recent narrowing of eligibility to care packages, reopen the Independent Living Fund, and address poverty pay among social care workers by backing an increase in pay to at least £15 per hour.”

Original motion(S6M-04567):
That the Parliament thanks Scotland’s NHS and social care staff for going above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes the focus on stabilising and recovering healthcare through investment and reform; notes the efforts to ensure that more patients receive high-quality person-centred care and treatment in the right place, at the right time; supports the focus on building and enhancing virtual capacity to support a sustainable future providing alternatives to hospital and improving patient experience; recognises the recent progress on the roll-out of hospital and home and community respiratory services, for example, and agrees with the commitment to upscale these services in the community, utilising technology and digital opportunities to support improvements.