DOUGLAS Ross accused Nicola Sturgeon of “disrespecting the Presiding Officer” in a tetchy clash at First Minister’s Questions.
The Scottish Tory leader had opened FMQs by asking about the state of the NHS in Scotland, focusing on Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
He said the flagship hospital had seen more than 1000 people wait longer than four hours for treatment in a single week.
Ross went on: “All over Scotland the number of people waiting beyond the target time was over 9500. It is the worst ever performance in Scotland’s A&E departments, so what specific actions is the First Minister taking to prevent people waiting hours on end at accident and emergency departments over Christmas?”
Responding, Sturgeon said that for the QEUH specifically there was a “range of actions underway, including opening additional wards on site, reconfiguring the surgical and medical capacity balance, they are also working to improve performance in the minor injuries flow … and they are optimising their discharge process”.
The Tory MSP said he had been asking for a more general Scotland-wide response, not a focus on the QEUH.
He said: “In the most recent month of data, 1900 beds every single day were taken up in Scotland’s hospitals by people who had medically been cleared to leave.”
Ross said the SNP should have “kept its promise to end delayed discharge” which would free up 1900 beds.
In a lengthy answer, Sturgeon (above) said that “97% of all patients are discharged without delay”, but added that “significant steps” were being taken to try to push that number up still higher, including targeted investment and increasing pay for social care workers.
As the SNP leader listed the steps being taken, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone interjected: “Briefly, First Minister.”
Sturgeon responded: “I will be as brief as possible. This is important stuff, Presiding Officer. Serious questions have been asked and I’m seeking to give detailed answers.”
Among murmurs from the Tory benches, she went on: “I would have thought, having raised these really serious issues, the Conservatives would actually want the information that answers the questions.”
In response, Ross said he thought “the concerns from these benches were the First Minister apparently disrespecting the Presiding Officer”.
Sturgeon could be seen to shake her head as the Tory leader went on: “Perhaps the First Minister would have more time to focus on the issues about the questions on Scotland’s NHS if she didn’t try to throw the blame elsewhere in the United Kingdom.”
He claimed there was a “unique issue” in Scotland, where health is devolved to the Scottish Government.
Sturgeon rejected the assertion, saying the challenges are “not unique to Scotland, they’re not even unique to the United Kingdom right now”.
She went on: “If Douglas Ross wants to say this is all specifically about this SNP government then ok, notwithstanding the challenges our NHS is facing, A&E units in Scotland are the best performing anywhere in the UK.
“Delayed discharges while far too high are lower than they are in England and Wales, and on GPs … there are more headcount GPs per 100,000 population in Scotland than the rest of the UK by some considerable distance.”
