Hot air won’t keep out winter cold
If SNP ministers’ warm words could power the NHS, then we would have nothing to worry about over the cold winter ahead.
That was my thought after raising concerns in parliament with the health secretary about Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH).
Highlighting warnings of
“chronic shortage of staff ” across all departments, I asked Humza Yousaf this week what work he and his officials are doing to protect services.
I echoed warnings from within the RAH that extremely stressful working conditions risked more frontline medics being lost to ill health.
Before the autumn leaves even began to fall, there were ominous signs of the winter we might expect. Last month two RAH wards had to close due to a Covid outbreak.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Scotland’s ambulance service, have already called upon the support of our fantastic military personnel.
The RAH last month [OCT] suffered its worst ever waiting times on record with just 62.3% of patients being seen in the target time of four hours.
One Renfrewshire resident told me that his wife, who tested positive for Covid, was denied a ventilator (although this was later disputed by NHS management).
Other disturbing accounts include those of a woman put in an all-male ward, unsanitary conditions, and even a dead body left for several hours in a bed next to other patients.
Yousaf ’s response to me was lengthy but said little of substance. Having now spent six months in the Holyrood chamber, I should not be surprised.
Because if Yousaf ’s warm words were a power source, not only would the NHS be alright, the entire nation would have sufficient heat and light all year round.
I was given the standard stock lines, most likely drafted by civil servants, and which amounted to little more than, ‘trust me’.
They included a pledge to provide “things such as free hot drinks and food on the wards” and mental health support.
As welcome as those measures are, they do not address the fundamental question about the specific measures needed for the RAH to remain resilient and fully functioning.
I’m afraid that free coffee and soggy cheese paninis for doctors and nurses on a 12-hour shift will not cut it.
Yousaf concluded by saying that he needed to be “upfront and honest” with the admission that “this winter will be extremely challenging”.
Alarm bells immediately began to ring. His admission was frank but also deeply worrying.
Far too often, Yousaf ’s ability to manage the health service has been found wanting to the extent that the word ‘crisis’ has lost its potency through such frequent use.
Yet Nicola Sturgeon’s Edinburgh government is awash with cash.
In his budget last month, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged a record £41 billion which will go directly to SNP government coffers.
Of course, even if that was £410billion, SNP politicians would keep bleating their usual dishonest “Tory bad” garbage.
Nope, this is not about a lack of money. This is about basic competency.
The Scottish Conservatives have a real doctor - the eminent Dr Sandesh Gulhane - as shadow health secretary.
While the SNP have entrusted the nation’s health in the hands of a man who likes dressing up as one.
He’s right.
This winter will be extremely challenging.