I am delighted to speak in the debate. First, I must pay tribute to the staff who work in our NHS and social care services and the tremendous shift that they put in, day in, day out.

It is important that we recognise the challenges that we all know the service faces, with waiting lists where they are and, in particular, the challenges with GP appointments, and that we recognise the significant impact of Covid in that respect, as we do across the UK and beyond. It is also important that we recognise the longer-term trends in demographics and health inflation that are pressing down on the service.

It is also hugely important to recognise, as the cabinet secretary has done, the Scottish Government’s commitment to the principles of the NHS, including the principle that exists in Scotland—unlike the rest of the UK—of free access at the point of need. The importance of primary care as the gateway to that service is critical. It is the most cost-effective way of providing that preventative service up front, and it helps the health and social care system operate more effectively. As a result, we should not understress its importance to the whole system.

It is also important that we recognise the performance of the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland in that regard, with GP numbers per head of population in Scotland the highest in the UK at 81 per 100,000 population, compared with 62 in Tory-run England and 65 in Labour-run Wales. We must also recognise the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to address the challenges that we undoubtedly face with GP provision. With GP training places now at 1,200, and set to increase by 35 this year and by an additional 35 next year, the multidisciplinary teams—4,700 such workers are in place, as the cabinet secretary has identified—will be absolutely critical in providing a more efficient and effective service at a local level.

I am delighted that the cabinet secretary’s predecessor continued the community link worker programme, and I am sure that the cabinet secretary will do so, too. Week in, week out, the GP practices in my constituency of Glasgow Provan are supported by community link workers. The number of GPs has increased by 270 since 2017, so there is clearly more work to be done, but much is going in the right direction.

I also take this opportunity to mention the particular challenges faced by rural and island communities. As members will know, it is an area being investigated by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, which I sit on. It is also worth recognising the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme, which is unique to Scotland within the UK. The University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee already participate in the programme, with its focus on recruiting and training GPs specifically for rural and island communities.

I very much welcome the cabinet secretary’s comments about taking forward plans for reform and innovation across the service, which I hope will happen sooner rather than later. There is much to do, but I believe that there is much opportunity and scope for innovation, both in technology and in process, to deliver service improvements, particularly if best practice is rolled out at scale across all 14 territorial health boards and the whole service.

I recognise the importance of recruiting GPs and other healthcare professionals, but I also recognise, as has the cabinet secretary, the impact of Brexit on the potential to recruit. It has placed the brakes on NHS Scotland’s opportunity to recruit from the rest of Europe—and it also brings into stark focus the Lib Dems’ position. The motion recognises the problem with recruitment; however, the elephant in the room is the Lib Dems’ volte-face or about-turn on their position on Brexit, which speaks to their inability to maintain consistency in such matters. The Scottish National Party is the only party in Scotland that is committed to Scotland rejoining the European Union—