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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 9 July 2025
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Displaying 3298 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

I will take you back to what you said in reply to Bill Kidd’s opening questions. Did you suggest that the figure in the Audit Scotland report—that only three of the 14 territorial NHS boards were expected to break even—was just a snapshot at the wrong time?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

Okay, thank you.

Another area identified in the Audit Scotland report is the delays to the roll-out of the national treatment centres, which we all understand are critical in regard to tackling waiting times and the backlog. They are critical not just in addressing the immediate pressures but in providing a longer-term route for getting people the treatment that they need. There has been a delay. Can you tell us where we are with the opening of the national treatment centres, some of which were meant to open last year and are still not open?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

Earlier, you said that the NHS Forth Valley’s Larbert site treatment centre and the expanded one at NHS Golden Jubilee at Clydebank will be open by the end of the year. Can you give us a definite commitment that, by December 2023, those two centres will be open and receiving patients?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

John Burns, are you confident about that?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

Thank you very much indeed.

Do you accept and agree with the findings and recommendations of the Auditor General for Scotland?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

Okay. Obviously, as the Public Audit Committee, we are interested in the public accountability of the service, and the only way for us to achieve that is to have the data and that degree of transparency. You might share our frustration, but I re-emphasise to you that we think that it is extremely important, because, for many people, general practice is their access point to the national health service.

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

I am sorry to labour the point, but what is the budget, for example, for the Larbert site? What is the budget for the NHS Golden Jubilee site? Where do they now sit?

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

The financial memorandum has been questioned by the Auditor General, and it was also questioned pretty heavily by the Finance and Public Administration Committee, which told you that you needed to go back and do your sums again and come back with a revised financial memorandum. I cannot remember a time when it was necessary for a Government department to revise its financial memorandum because it was seen to be so out of sync with what people estimated the costs would be. Do you feel embarrassed about that?

09:30  

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

You accept, though, that there has been a delay.

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “NHS in Scotland 2022”

Meeting date: 4 May 2023

Richard Leonard

Okay, but the Audit Scotland report came out in February, yet, just two days ago, in this Parliament, the chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway told the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee:

“I have worked in the NHS since the 1980s. I am a finance director by background and I have never seen a position as challenging as this.”

He then went on to speak about

“an existential challenge to our current service models”.

He also said:

“technically, I cannot afford one in 10 of my workforce”.—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 2 May 2023; c 13-14.]

There is severe pressure on territorial health boards, is there not? It looks a bit more like the picture painted by Audit Scotland than the one that you have painted for us this morning.