Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Steven Bonnar Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steven Bonnar (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (SNP)]

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury).

Since its inception, the NHS in Scotland has stood as a testament to our way of life and our society’s outlook and as a beacon of our compassion, all thanks to the unwavering dedication and commitment of our NHS staff and social care workforce. Even in the face of an unprecedented pandemic, coming as quickly as it did after the damage already caused by Brexit, our NHS staff have remained steadfast, their commitment undeterred. We clapped them—remember?—and then this place let every single one of them down, time and time again. They held the hands of our dying relatives while those who were setting the rules our NHS staff had to endure were breaking those rules.

In Scotland, we cherish each individual and the contributions they make to all our lives, day in and day out, across the Scottish NHS and social care sector. They are working under immense pressure for myriad reasons, but none is more apparent than the wilful damage inflicted on Scotland by this place over the past four years alone, let alone the 13 years of Tory rule. Let us stop to consider the pressures placed on our NHS staff: consider the pandemic, and the attack that it unleashed on our frontline service provision; consider the third of our NHS workforce sent home overnight when our freedom of movement was removed; consider the Truss-Kwarteng psychodrama that played out before us, and the tanking of the economy hitting every single household across the UK. When we consider all of that, is it not the workers of our NHS who should be honoured and decorated by this place? However, instead of crowns, they wear paper hats and scrubs, and they struggle on day by day. Speaking of crowns, when we look past the pomp and the grandeur of Westminster, we find nothing in the King’s Speech that resonates in any way with the hard-working people of Scotland. The Tory Government fail to address the core issues affecting people’s lives today—the soaring cost of food, mortgage costs, energy costs and interest rates, not to mention the lack of support for those on the lowest of incomes or those in the middle who are being squeezed from every conceivable angle.



Scotland’s NHS has been independent since its inception, and despite all the issues I have mentioned as being faced by service users and staff alike, we in the SNP can say with confidence that it fares much better than its counterparts across any of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. The operational separation it enjoys has undoubtedly enabled and maintained that better performance over many years. Earlier, we heard the Opposition Health spokesperson, the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), lay out the state of play in England’s NHS—and, let us be honest, it was not pretty —but as of today Scotland’s NHS has higher staffing per head of population than the NHS in England. In Scotland we have 8.3 qualified nurses and midwives per 1,000 of our population, compared with just 6.3 here in England. This means that nursing and midwifery levels are 32% higher per head of population in Scotland than they are here in England. Overall, nursing and midwifery staffing is up by 13% under the SNP Scottish Government, and medical and dental consultants are up by 65% under the SNP Scottish Government. A band 2 porter in Scotland earns more than £2,980 extra when compared with a porter in England, a band 5 nurse in Scotland is earning £3,080 more when compared with a nurse in England and a band 6 paramedic is more than £3,480 better off when compared with their counterparts in England. All of this is while avoiding any strikes within NHS Scotland.

The one area where our NHS does not enjoy full independence is funding, and this has proven critical for a few reasons. For the past three years, we on the SNP Benches have been calling on the UK Government to deliver the funding necessary to not only deal with the pandemic, but make sure our NHS comes back better and healthier than before. If the Government in this place were to lift up wages in NHS England to match those in Scotland, they would not only secure NHS staff in England, encourage greater staff retention and possibly avoid the strikes we have seen so many of, but unlock billions in additional funding to make its way up the road to Scotland. However, this Government, with the reserved borrowing powers of Westminster, have refused to act. Despite all our efforts, a Westminster Government ultimately hold the key to delivering the funding necessary to catapult our NHS not just back on to its feet, but forward into a future the public so much deserve.

The pressure in our NHS demands urgent action, so what my constituents in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill are asking themselves is: what change will come under a Labour Government? Will employment law be devolved, and will immigration law be devolved? What exactly are the changes that the Labour party is proposing, because its foreign policy is practically the same, its economic policy is largely the same, its welfare policy is largely the same and its constitutional policy is largely the same? Both the Tories and Labour offer Scotland the status quo. They both offer a life under a Westminster Government who do not care for it, will never put it first and will never put it before the interests of little Britain. Only the SNP is offering the people of Scotland any real change and any real hope, and it will only come with independence. Only then can the great reset begin.

As things stand, we in the SNP come to this place daily to stand up for Scotland and to address the challenges in our healthcare system, our economy and our interactions with the world through UK foreign policy. In my opinion, it is becoming more difficult to come here, and to sit and listen to the rhetoric of this place and of this Government. Listening to some of it has been hard to stomach, so let me be very clear: both the Government and the Opposition, in refusing to call for an end to innocent lives being lost and the collective punishment of Palestinians via a humanitarian ceasefire on all sides, are once again out of lockstep with the people of Scotland. The SNP amendment to the Loyal Address, to which I have put my name, calls for an immediate ceasefire to take place. I very much look forward to voting for that in the name of peace and humanity, and I hope many hon. and right hon. Friends will join me in the Lobby.

Scotland’s reputation among our partners in the international community is being damaged and we are being dragged down by our attachment to this place. The harm that has been caused to our economy, our public services, our population and our reputation are unparalleled. Is it not a little bit ironic that the man who caused so much of it, with his Brexit vote and his failed Remain campaign, is back? Former Prime Minister Cameron is now in the Government as Foreign Secretary—unelected, of course, but simply handed an ermine robe and told, “You’re a Lord now, Dave. Get on wi’ it!” He is allowing himself to be used as some kind of stooge to distract from a weak Prime Minister, who had no option but to sack his dog-whistling Home Secretary. The Leader of the Opposition is no stranger himself to anti-immigration rhetoric, specifically targeting the NHS and recruitment from overseas. This is at a time when the recruitment and retention of senior medical staff is one of the biggest challenges we are facing, with over 40% of GP trainees being international graduates. The challenges felt in the health and social care sector resonate across other sectors too—agriculture, fishing, food production and distribution have all been victims of Brexit—and the last thing Scotland needs is any more right-wing rhetoric on immigration from this place.

The best future for the NHS is an independent future in Scotland. An independent Scotland, free from the constraints of this place, can chart its own course, ensuring the wellbeing of its citizens without being tethered to the whims of political agendas thought up by right-wing ideologues who do not prioritise our nation, its health or our people. The people of Scotland deserve so much better, and we in the SNP will work to deliver a healthcare system that puts people first, values our healthcare professionals and recognises the true worth of our national health service—and to achieve this, our fight continues.