Richard Leonard The website of Richard Leonard MSP, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
27 February 2020
Scottish Labour Leader, Richard Leonard MSP, raised the closure of out-of-hours GP services in Greater Glasgow and Clyde at today’s First Minister’s Questions.
He questioned the additional burden this will put on already overstretched A&E services and the actions of Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeane Freeman, who said just last month that she had a ‘wee plan’ to make the health board’s out of hours service more robust.
Richard Leonard said : “If this is what happens when the Cabinet Secretary has a ‘wee plan’ let’s hope she doesn’t have any more.”
He continued: “We’ve got GP services under threat, out of hours services closing and A&E waiting times going up.
"The Government talks of a whole system approach, is this how the First Minister defines a whole system approach? Or is it a whole system failure?”
With one in three patients waiting more than four hours in A&E, one in four patients not being treated within the SNP government’s guaranteed time and the closure of out-of-hours services, Richard Leonard added:
“It is not enough for the First Minister to keep apologising to patients waiting too long, to families anxious and in distress, to NHS staff under-resourced, under-valued and over-stretched.
" Isn’t it time the First Minister recognised her accountability, took some responsibility and finally started meeting her own targets?
Scottish Labour Leader, Richard Leonard MSP, raised the closure of out-of-hours GP services in Greater Glasgow and Clyde at today’s First Minister’s Questions.
He questioned the additional burden this will put on already overstretched A&E services and the actions of Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeane Freeman, who said just last month that she had a ‘wee plan’ to make the health board’s out of hours service more robust.
Richard Leonard said : “If this is what happens when the Cabinet Secretary has a ‘wee plan’ let’s hope she doesn’t have any more.”
He continued: “We’ve got GP services under threat, out of hours services closing and A&E waiting times going up.
"The Government talks of a whole system approach, is this how the First Minister defines a whole system approach? Or is it a whole system failure?”
With one in three patients waiting more than four hours in A&E, one in four patients not being treated within the SNP government’s guaranteed time and the closure of out-of-hours services, Richard Leonard added:
“It is not enough for the First Minister to keep apologising to patients waiting too long, to families anxious and in distress, to NHS staff under-resourced, under-valued and over-stretched.
" Isn’t it time the First Minister recognised her accountability, took some responsibility and finally started meeting her own targets?