Neil Gray has inherited an overflowing in-tray from the disgraced Michael Matheson, who missed no fewer than 72 NHS-related targets set by his Government while he was in charge of the health service. As we have heard, it looks likely that the SNP Government will miss another of its flagship targets—the target to recruit 800 GPs. In fact, the British Medical Association believes not only that Scotland is not on track to meet that commitment but that we are going backwards. That matters because primary care is the backbone of the NHS. The majority of patient contact occurs in primary care. Those services are being expected to take the pressure off other parts of the NHS that simply do not have the capacity to treat patients.

General practices are pivotal to the survival of the NHS but, under the SNP Government, patient numbers are up and GP numbers are down. Scotland lost 10 per cent of its GP surgeries between 2012 and 2022. General practice is chronically underfunded and underresourced, as we have heard. Rural communities have been hit particularly hard, because it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain GPs, so some practices are under increased pressure to close. It is little surprise that one of Scotland’s top doctors has warned that general practice is dying a slow and lingering death.

As Neil Gray gets up to speed with his brief as the new health secretary, he would do well to read the Scottish Conservatives’ recent paper on health, in which we committed to raising the amount of NHS spending on GP services by 12 per cent and to recruiting an additional 1,000 GPs.

Dr Sandesh Gulhane shed light on the flopped plans of the past three health secretaries, against a backdrop of GPs suffering from low morale caused by unmanageable workloads. Sadly, earlier in the debate, we saw more deflection from the latest cabinet secretary, who, according to Keith Brown, is one of the strongest members of the SNP. Let us therefore see the cabinet secretary start to put in place workable solutions to the current crisis, rather than continuing to lay the blame elsewhere, as his colleagues do.

Dr Gulhane challenged the cabinet secretary and his colleagues over not passing on £17 billion in NHS consequentials and instead wasting that money on SNP-Green pet projects. Dr Gulhane is not precious about our policies. The cabinet secretary could swallow the pride that he talks about and consider our workable solutions, which would give him a head start. The cabinet secretary is frowning at me, so clearly he has not looked at our paper—perhaps we could send him a copy of it. If he were to consider those proposals, that would make a refreshing change from the deflection, the cracked record and the smoke and mirrors that Alex Cole-Hamilton mentioned in his opening speech.

In making his maiden speech, Tim Eagle asked the cabinet secretary to listen to those whom he serves. Cabinet secretary, please do something now, listen and show that you mean what you say about making general practice

“the heart of the healthcare system”,

to quote your words to you.

The Scottish Conservatives have a clear plan to deliver a modern, efficient and local NHS. The SNP cannot preside over the permanent crisis in our NHS any longer.