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I thank my colleague Jackie Baillie for bringing this important debate to the chamber and I, too, welcome international nurses day, which, as has been mentioned, is marked on the anniversary of the birthday of Florence Nightingale. The debate offers us the opportunity to commend the work of our nurses, highlight the impact that they have on our society and pay tribute to them for the work that they carried out throughout the pandemic.

Our nurses are the best of our country—I will touch more on that later in my speech. However, in Scotland we have a situation in which nurses feel undervalued, overworked and underpaid. They feel as though the pressures of the workplace have become too much during the pandemic, with vacancies not being filled, agency staff being used more often than normal and staff shortages meaning that others have to double—or sometimes treble—their workload. It would therefore simply be wrong of us to debate the motion without highlighting the clear and fundamental challenges that face nurses and nursing more widely.

As on many issues, the Scottish Government certainly talks a good game, but, when it comes to action, it falls short. I have spoken to many constituents in my South Scotland region who tell me, time and again, that the challenges facing our hospitals and care settings are like none that they have ever seen before.

Of course, it is difficult to do that in four minutes, but it is important that we address the issue and at least acknowledge to the nurses that we see it as important. I hope that the cabinet secretary will address some of that in his remarks.

The pandemic has exacerbated many problems, but it did not create them. They were created due to consistent mismanagement of our health service by consecutive health secretaries in the Scottish Government. However, all is not lost. With the right investment in nursing, including increasing pay and conducting public awareness schemes to encourage people to join the profession as part of the implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, as we have heard, we could relieve some of the stress and pressure on the current workforce and show people in it the value that they truly deserve. I say to the cabinet secretary that Scottish Labour stands ready to support positive change from the Scottish Government if it shows the political will to introduce that.

Our nurses deserve to be celebrated. They work day in, day out to provide the highest standard of care to patients in different settings up and down the country, and it is right that they are recognised with accolades and awards. Indeed, each and every one of them deserves an accolade and award for their work in the past two years, but they need more—they need action from the Government. I look to the nurses in Ayrshire and across the South Scotland region and consider the tremendous efforts that they have put in to provide for those most in need in very difficult times. I think of the mental health nurses across the country, who are also under significant workplace pressures and who are working to reduce lengthy waiting lists but still providing high-quality services.

Before I conclude, as suggested in the motion, I want to share my personal story. It is of a dear lifelong friend who has worked tirelessly in my local community since training in a small local hospital—I am sure that she would not wish me to remind her how long ago it was. That local hospital, Ballochmyle, is now closed, but the bulk of her career has involved working in the community. My friend, Hilary Sharp, has demonstrated the best of nursing and the best of the profession. Despite pressures at work, she is always kind, caring and committed to her patients. It is a great tribute to her that her daughter, Jennifer Sharp, has now started a nursing degree at the University of Aberdeen. I cannot tell members how proud the family are of that, and rightly so. The dedication of our country to the NHS is often shown in generations of family members who are committed to a lifelong career in caring for others.

Without doubt, nurses in Scotland face pressure, but we must celebrate them tonight.

We obviously agree that the cost of living crisis is very significant, and we do not disagree about the impact of the Westminster Conservative Government. I thank the cabinet secretary for the commitment that we will use all the powers that we have in Scotland. That is very helpful.

The Auditor General spoke about the progress of Public Health Scotland’s work. Can you give a bit of feedback on how that work is going?

Although the previous couple of themes have covered the issue, I note that the Auditor General was critical of the Government’s overall strategy for addressing health inequalities, particularly around disability and among people from deprived backgrounds. The pandemic is acknowledged but the report also very much acknowledges that those are on-going health inequalities.

Has the Government managed to pull together an overarching strategy to look at health inequalities? If so, what will it measure? On top of that, has the Government considered other measures that it can use—perhaps other powers that it has but is not currently using—to make a difference in an area that is of the highest importance to it?

In the interests of time, I would just like to hear the cabinet secretary make a commitment on the important issue of allied health professional staff. They have a really important role to play in the reform of the NHS, but they face significant recruitment and retention problems. I raise that to ensure that the team sees it as an important part of the overall plan for the NHS.

I thank Audrey Nicoll for bringing this important debate to the chamber and the members who have spoken so far for their contributions. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I also welcome international day of the midwife, which is being marked tomorrow, and pay tribute to all those who have contributed to the development of the field as we celebrate 100 years of progress throughout the globe and the global midwife community.

It is right that I begin my remarks by noting and commenting on the work of midwives during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic put significant pressure on all aspects of our health service, but midwifery is a very obvious example. In many cases, the partners of women who were giving birth were not able to be with them in the room, so a midwife would be their closest support during childbirth. For many of those women, their midwife would also be their trusted confidante when it came to taking up the offer of a Covid-19 vaccine—something that many pregnant women were understandably sceptical about in the early stages of the pandemic.

On that note, I pay tribute to the Royal College of Midwives for its strong calls for everyone to get the vaccine, importantly noting the impact that severe Covid-19 symptoms could have on both mother and baby and the potentially negative impact of women entering maternity wards without having been vaccinated. The work of midwives throughout the pandemic has been admirable. They have kept services running during the most difficult of times and have provided the support that has been required by so many.

However, there are clear and significant problems in midwifery surrounding the fact that there are over 5,000 vacancies in nursing and midwifery in Scotland at the moment and the feelings of many of those who are already employed in nursing and midwifery that they are underpaid, underresourced, and undervalued. It is expected that agency work will be relied on, in some instances, to fill the gaps. However, the scale of the agency support that is being provided to the Scottish NHS is simply unsustainable. More investment must be put into education and training to ensure that more young people who are leaving school consider a career in midwifery. It is an excellent career for many people.

The Scottish Government must act to pay nursing and midwifery staff the wages that they deserve, ensure that the workplace conditions that they experience daily are improved, and support a workforce that has been under pressure during the pandemic.

Ahead of last year’s Scottish Parliament elections, the Royal College of Midwives, as well as asking for the midwife staff shortages to be brought to an end, called for investment in midwifery to tackle social deprivation. As I have said many times in the chamber, health inequalities remain one of Scotland’s biggest challenges. I would encourage the minister to consider how midwifery services can continue to provide the best start in life for children, protect women as they go through pregnancy, and remain in contact with both mother and child in order to protect mental health and wellbeing and to promote choices for healthy living.

There has been significant progress in the global midwife community in the past 100 years, which is evident in the first-class treatment and services that many members have mentioned today, which are provided by midwives across Scotland and beyond. However, to ensure that, in 50 or even 100 more years, when similar debates are had again, we must have a collective endeavour to overcome the challenges that currently exist in workplace environments and in vacancies. Moreover, we must show collective ambition to use midwifery as a vehicle for tackling the social and health inequalities that continue to grow in our society.

Again, I welcome international day of the midwife and the contributions from all members, and I thank all the midwives in my region of South Scotland and beyond for the incredible work that they have done and continue to do in serving their communities.

No. I thank the minister for that answer. I hope that we can come back to it, as it is an issue that we should explore.

Good morning. Has any research been done on reducing the visibility of alcohol in places where people who have problems may impulse buy, such as supermarkets? On the subject of reducing the visibility of alcohol, including for children and young people, I note that other countries have gone down the route of not having alcohol near the doors of shops so that it is not necessarily seen by people who are just popping in for milk. Have you thought about that? Is there any research on it that you are looking at?

To ask the Scottish Government how long Covid has been factored into its Covid-19 strategic review. (S6O-00992)

Given that answer, can the cabinet secretary explain why the Scottish Government is yet to host a debate on the important issue of the long-term effects of long Covid, and why the scheduled debate on that issue last week was changed to a different topic?