S1M-3022 Primary Health Care

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S1M-3022, in the name of Malcolm Chisholm, on modernising primary health care in the national health service to improve health, and three amendments to that motion.

09:30
... ... ...
11:49

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): My father graduated as a doctor at the age of 42—he came to the primary care sector late in his life. He was the centre of the health service for his patients. He started in medicine just before the health service was established. He was a strong supporter of the health service and welcomed its coming to pass. My father came from another age. He shared a GP cottage hospital with colleagues in Cupar in Fife. The hospital had X-ray equipment and an operating theatre. Occasionally, he even carried out an appendectomy. He did all his maternity work in patients' homes, which people welcomed.

We should not imagine that 50 years ago was the golden age of medicine, although it was the golden age in respect of customer care and the relationship between the primary care provider—the GP—and the patient. In many other respects, that period was the dark ages. When my father graduated, there were no antibiotics. What could be done for people with severe infections was strictly limited. Diabetes was diagnosed by the doctor's tasting the patient's urine—there was no other effective means of diagnosis. Often, the smell of acetone on the patient's breath was an indicator, but the test was inaccurate and incomplete.

There was blood and guts. Once, on a Saturday night at 11.30 pm, a rugby player appeared at the front door at home. He had survived the rugby match, but the post-match dance had had a severe impact on him. He stood at the door with his ear in his hand—a fellow celebrant had bitten it off. My father sewed it on. The patient had already taken sufficient anaesthetic and there was no requirement for more.

We know that there are still health care problems in Scotland. Indeed, yesterday at the Justice 2 Committee meeting, an interesting and alarming statistic from the Procurator Fiscal Service was mentioned. Do members know that, in Strathclyde and Glasgow in a single year, 1,570 accused people died before their cases came to court? That says something about the state of health care.

People in Banff and Buchan do their best. We produce the best food in the world—oily fish—and we will certainly play our part in improving Scotland's diet.

I welcome a return to primary health care as an important part of the NHS. Practical measures can be taken in the primary sector. Type 2 diabetes—late onset diabetes—for example, is largely a matter of diet and lifestyle. The primary health care sector has a huge role to play in advising people. Nurses can weigh patients and give them advice on lifestyle.

I have come across curious little facts. My sister-in-law is a nurse in a nursing home. She is fully qualified but is not allowed to give injections, as the nursing home is not insured for the consequences of any errors that might occur. Therefore, she must call out GPs to supervise her when she gives injections.

My father had some interesting patients who were Tories. He refused to give them private service. Consider the leader of the Tories in the House of Lords and the Chairman of Ways and Means in the House of Commons. Even Tories can support the health service if we give them the quality. With the exception of the Tories, all parties in the chamber strongly support the health service and the public provision of that service.

11:54