Monica Lennon, Jeane Freeman, Jackie Baillie, Vale of Leven Hospital, Miles Briggs and Crosslet House care home in Dumbarton.
By Bill Heaney
Health and Social Care are the two most talked about subjects in most houses across West Dunbartonshire.
Although yesterday, as that Brexit leaving date can was kicked further down the road to June 30, people were coming to realise how important that decision will be for them and their families.
Politicians have tried – and succeeded – in boring us to death with Brexit because they do not wish the electorate to have a close up view of them making such a hash of the negotiations.
Brexit is an integral part of the workforce challenges Scotland faces – and will have to deal with in future – across the NHS.
Tory Miles Briggs MSP told parliament however that the problems in the NHS did not start with Brexit – “SNP ministers and members need to understand that, after 12 years of being in charge of our NHS, the SNP has no one else to blame but itself.”
He added that it was time for the Scottish government to focus on the NHS staff “and what we can do to make their lives easier.
“It is time that we changed the approach that is taken, to look after those who look after us.”
He asked Holyrood to note the ongoing NHS workforce crisis, which sees high vacancy rates in nursing, consulting and mental health posts, as well as high absence rates across the health service.
And to understand the pressures that NHS and social care staff face.
There was a need to improve the holistic care and support provided to them, he said.
Jeane Freeman, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, replied: “I am immensely proud of our health and social care staff.
“The quality of care and treatment provided by our staff, and the compassion and dedication that they show, are unparalleled, and we thank each and every one of them.
“Of course I recognise the pressure that exists from the increasing demand on health and care services.
“The reasons for that are well rehearsed, but they include demographic challenges, increasingly complex care needs and advances in the care and treatment services that we are able to offer.
“I recognise that the pressures are felt by our staff, and that is why we have acted and will continue to act to support our workforce, increasing training numbers in nursing and midwifery, among medical undergraduates, for our medical postgraduate programme and for allied health professional pathways; promoting training pathways; supporting board recruitment and retention; promoting staff health and well-being; and increasing the employee voice.
“Delivering sustainable services is not simply about supporting recruitment and retention. The health and well-being of our workforce is of fundamental importance.”
Ms Freeman said she was content to support a Labour amendment from Monica Lennon MSP which put the main cause of the problem down to overwork, stress and staff shortages.
Monica Lennon said: “Looking after those who look after us is the title of today’s debate and I hope that it reminds us all that we should never take our health and social care staff for granted.”
And she associated Labour members with Miles Briggs’s remarks about Dr Lauren Connelly, a young doctor who died at the wheel of her car when she was returning home from work exhausted after a long shift.
She added: “Eight years on since Lauren died, the latest General Medical Council survey found that nearly one in every four UK doctors in training said that they were burnt out because of their work.
“A recent BMA survey found that 91 per cent of doctors work more than their allotted hours. We know that the problem is not isolated to doctors but extends to all staff who are affected by the NHS’s workforce crisis.
“Social care staff are at risk, too. The social care sector is fragile and staff often experience poor working conditions, sometimes on zero-hour contracts, with low pay and demanding shift patterns.”
She added: “Health and social care staff are being stretched to their limits, working more than their contracted hours at times. Staff who I have spoken to feel as though they are always on call.”
Ms Lennon said she had done some research into what support is available to staff – “I was interested to hear from Unison that some NHS workplaces have implemented staff well-being initiatives, such as lunch time yoga—something that perhaps we could all benefit from.
“The Scottish Conservatives have called for provision for sleep facilities, so that staff can catch up on much-needed sleep before driving home.
“Those ideas are all worth exploring, and any measure that will protect staff and promote health and safety in the workplace needs to be encouraged.
“However, Labour members are concerned about the working conditions that allow staff to become so exhausted and stressed in the first place.
“Until the Scottish Government accepts that there is a workforce crisis, it will never truly address the systemic problems that our health and social care services face.
“Scottish Labour research has found that between 2015-16 and 2017-18, 1 million days of NHS staff absence were caused by stress.
“Although any measures to support staff are welcome, we must ensure that the focus remains on the root causes of poor staff well-being, such as too much work and not enough staff.”
Jeane Freeman said Brexit was “a threat to our work to support our health and care services that cannot be ignored.
“Since the inception of our health service, our health and care services have benefited from inward migration, and they have benefited, too, from our healthcare professionals working elsewhere and bringing their experience and knowledge back home to apply here.
“Free movement is vital for us to continue to attract dedicated professionals to help to deliver those services.
“It is simply wrong that our European Union health and social care staff should no longer feel welcome, and it is absolutely devastating that skilled colleagues who have built their lives here in Scotland should be planning to leave as a result.
“We will continue to advocate on their behalf and argue for a tailored immigration policy that meets Scotland’s needs and reflects our values.
“We are taking comprehensive action to support increasing medical, nursing and midwifery trainees through the system, including bespoke support for specialty medical training and midwifery to promote both rural training and recruitment.
“We are maintaining free tuition fees and increasing the nursing and midwifery student bursary to £8,100 this year and £10,000 in 2020.
“For the seventh successive year, we have increased the number of student midwifery and nursing places.
“We have provided funding for adult social care workers to be paid the real living wage, benefiting up to 40,000 care workers.”
Dumbarton and Helensburgh MSP Jackie Baillie said she had discussed with Ms Freeman payment of the living wage to overnight care workers.
She added: “Despite local authorities having the resources to do so, some of them have not passed that on in full, particularly for those who are employed in the third sector.
“What progress is being made to ensure that that payment starts at the very beginning of the new financial year?”
The Minister replied: “I am grateful to Ms Baillie for raising that point. She has long championed the issue, as I have done.
“The intention to support 24-hour care wherever it is needed is really important—I know that we share that view. I met the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities yesterday to look specifically at the information that we have so far on where the payment is not being applied and to determine what further action we can take.
“I am not yet clear about all the local authorities that are not yet applying it; some of the data is not yet complete.
“However, as soon as we have the information, we and COSLA will, between ourselves, act with those individual authorities, and I will ensure that Ms Baillie and others are kept up to date.”
West Dunbartonshire Council refuses to comment to The Democrat.