John Swinney was yesterday forced to apologise after a report laid bare the ‘shameful’ daily conditions faced by patients and medical staff in Scotland’s hospitals.
During a bruising encounter at First Ministers Questions yesterday, Mr Swinney was slammed for ‘denying’ the reality of the ‘devastating collapse in care standards’.
He blamed increases in flu admissions after a report by Royal College of Nursing (RCN) painted a harrowing picture of life on the wards.
The report, which had testimony from 500 frontline nurses, revealed the shocking scale of patients being treated in corridors and toilets because of a lack of beds.
They claim the overcrowding is costing lives by denying the sick access to lifesaving equipment and there had been a ‘devastating collapse in care standards’, with patients ‘routinely coming to harm’ and unable to access basic services.
Despite being read a dozen harrowing accounts from Scots NHS nurses, Mr Swinney repeatedly blamed ‘unprecedented’ demand from flu cases.
Asked about one nurse’s verdict that the ‘broken system’ was worse than during Covid, he told MSPs: ‘No, it is not.’
Tory leader Russell Findlay said there was a ‘stark disconnect’ between what SNP politicians thought about the NHS and ‘the reality of what nurses are saying’.
He said: ‘Nurses say the system is broken but John Swinney insists everything is fine. He’s denying reality. Nurses are being let down and patients are being utterly failed.’
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Mr Swinney was ‘asleep at the wheel’.
Labour last night wrote to the FM asking if he was effectively calling nurses liars.
The humbling of Mr Swinney began with Mr Findlay challenging him over nurses in Scotland being forced to care for multiple patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other vital kit.
Nine in 10 of those surveyed said patient safety was being compromised.
The findings were based on responses from 5,408 from UK nurses, including 500 north of the Border, between December 18 and January 11.
‘It is page after page of shocking and desperate testimony,’ Mr Findlay told First Minister’s Questions.
‘One nurse said: “It is degrading, undignified, and at times unsafe for patients. The system is broken”.
‘Does John Swinney agree with Scotland’s nurses that Scotland’s NHS is broken?’
Mr Swinney apologised to anyone who had ‘an unsatisfactory experience’ in a congested hospital.
He praised staff for their ‘unremitting commitment’ in the face of ‘unprecedented demand’, citing the ‘enormity of the increase in flu cases’ in recent weeks.
Mr Findlay said it was ‘record levels’ of delayed discharge patients stuck in hospitals which were creating ‘dangerous levels’ of overcrowding.
He said Health Secretary Neil Gray had earlier denied patients are routinely treated in corridors, only to be contradicted by Colin Poolman of RCN Scotland, who said it was ‘normalised’ and asked Mr Swinney who was right.
Mr Swinney said he and Mr Gray were ‘fully aware’ of the ‘prevailing’ circumstances, but again put them down to ‘unprecedented demand’ from flu admissions.
Mr Findlay told him: ‘Here is a reality check. A nurse said “It’s disgusting and we are on our knees but nothing seems to be getting done”. Another said “It breaks my heart at the pathetic care that we are able to give”.
‘The situation cannot continue. It is absolutely heartbreaking.
‘What does John Swinney have to say to the nurses who are being let down and to the patients who are having to suffer such disgusting and degrading treatment?’
Mr Swinney accepted the ‘enormity of the pressure on the NHS’ but again cited ‘flu rates’.
He said the public would have his and Mr Gray’s ‘unrelenting focus’ on getting patients the care they need.
Mr Sarwar reminded Mr Swinney of a case he raised last week, of a retired police officer forced to lie on the floor of a Lanarkshire hospital in excruciating pain for over five hours before receiving morphine.
He said the RCN report had laid bare the impact of the NHS crisis not just on patients like Robert, but on frontline staff as well.
‘It is shameful,’ he said. ‘John Swinney wants to pretend that we have only a winter crisis in the NHS; the reality is that we have a permanent crisis in the NHS on John Swinney’s watch.
‘One nurse said: “I worked throughout Covid-19 and although it was a horrendous experience this lack of care in the broken system is worse.”
‘Is that not the deadly reality of the NHS on John Swinney and the SNP’s watch?’
Mr Swinney replied: ‘No, it is not. What we are doing is focusing, within the resources available to us, on maximising the effectiveness of patient care for individuals.’
Mr Sarwar’s deputy, Dame Jackie Ballie, later wrote to Mr Swinney about him denying the ‘reality’ of the nurses reports, asking if they were ‘mistaken about the situation they experience every day or that they are not telling the truth?’.
The First Minister’s spokesman said: ‘It is extremely poor form for Labour to produce a shortened quote which completely misrepresents what the First Minister said. Anyone listening to First Minister’s Questions would have heard the First Minister make clear his enormous respect for the NHS workforce and the extensive steps his government is taking to deliver improvements across our health service.
‘If Labour want to make a useful contribution then they should vote for the Scottish Budget in order to unlock record funding for our NHS and implement the reforms that we all want to see.’