A Caring Nation – Recovering, Remobilising and Renewing Health and Social Care in Scotland (Amendment 4)
S6M-01190.4: As an amendment to motion S6M-01190 in the name of Humza Yousaf (A Caring Nation – Recovering, Remobilising and Renewing Health and Social Care in Scotland), leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert "notes that the NHS is under intense pressure because ministerial mistakes in workforce planning since 2007 contributed to the failure to meet key waiting times targets for years pre-pandemic; believes that the NHS Recovery Plan should be strengthened with a trajectory for meeting those targets to give new hope to overworked staff and patients waiting; further believes that there should be new national entitlements to guarantee quality of care for service users, with the funding to match, and new national fair work standards for staff to improve pay, conditions and career progression; believes, however, that Scottish Government proposals for a centralised ministerial takeover of social care will distract and detract from those ambitions; recalls the mistakes of previous centralisations conducted by the Scottish Government, and calls for the additional proposals contained in the Scottish Government consultation to use centralisation to seize control of other services, including children and young people, community justice and social work, described as an attack on local government, to also be withdrawn."

Original motion(S6M-01190):
That the Parliament thanks Scotland’s NHS and social care staff for their heroic efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic; recognises that the pandemic has been the biggest shock that the NHS and social care services have ever faced; notes that the NHS is currently under intense pressure due to the pandemic and that primary care, ambulance and hospital staff are working around the clock to deliver care to patients; recognises that well in excess of £1 billion has already been provided this year to address COVID-19 pressures in health and social care and that further funding will be allocated to support service pressures; welcomes the £1 billion NHS Recovery Plan that will significantly increase NHS inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic capacity; notes that this increase includes recruiting an additional 1,500 staff to work in the network of National Treatment Centres; recognises that the Plan puts particular focus on early cancer diagnostics and referral pathways as well as child and adult mental health services; agrees that the mental health and wellbeing of health and social care staff is a key priority and central focus of the Plan; supports the commitment to create a National Care Service; recognises that ethical commissioning, and setting terms and conditions that meet the Fair Work principles, could greatly improve how social care is delivered, and believes that the voices of lived experience, including those who access support and care, the workforce and unpaid carers must be central to the ongoing consultation on the service.