A modern NHS would embrace innovation and introduce the latest medical equipment. In rural and remote areas, that would include mobile screening services, and we would take diagnostics—such as lung screening—to the community instead of expecting patients to travel long distances. We need to provide credible backing for community pharmacists, optometrists, audiology services, physiotherapists and link workers if we want to have expertise in the community. To achieve that, we need to reprioritise resources. In plain speech, we need to fund the necessary changes and ensure that we reduce inefficiencies.

Sound healthcare economics is vital. Scotland’s NHS must be geared to deliver at the local level in order to get stronger primary care. It is important that we focus on the fact that central belt solutions for primary care will not work for all of Scotland, which is not what the SNP understands. We are ready to contribute to a national conversation on the future of our NHS, which healthcare professionals are calling for.

I move amendment S6M-12214.3, to insert after “emergency”:

“; notes with deep concern that the number of GPs per thousand people has decreased significantly in the last decade; recalls that investment in new treatment centres was central to the Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plan and its promise to improve primary care access; condemns the recent decision to cancel investment in new projects for undermining these promises; strongly urges the Scottish Government to adopt the proposals put forward by the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in its paper, Modern, Efficient, Local: A new contract between Scotland’s NHS and the public, including, critically, the pledges to recruit an additional 1,000 general practitioners and to digitise primary care appointment bookings”.