Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 21 Chwefror 2024.
Primary care and the entire NHS need new energy, new ideas and new hope. They need a new Government.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the Scottish Government’s longstanding commitment to recruit an extra 800 GPs by 2027 and the views of bodies, including the Royal College of General Practitioners and Audit Scotland, that it is not on track to meet this target; regrets that there is still insufficient access to mental health practitioners working alongside GPs and the £30 million in-year cut to the mental health budget, which Scottish Government documents show will affect primary care; understands that rural and remote communities are among those being severely impacted by high levels of workforce vacancies, presenting barriers to diagnosis, referrals and treatments, and potentially exerting greater pressure on other parts of the NHS, such as accident and emergency, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to rewrite the failed NHS Recovery Plan to get recruitment and retention back on track and to build stronger local health services by expanding the range of services and specialists available, including in mental health and physiotherapy, to meet demand.