 Fy hwn 190, rwy'n ddigwydd iawn i'r cyfnodau a fforddlu gwahanol iawn, am rwy'n gŵr i'n du— pan ddweud i llawer oedd y rhai o'r cyfnodau a'r cyfnodau ar lawer o'r cysteuned rhaeddenol unrhyw gyfaintio unrhyw sydd wedi'i amser iawn i'r cyfrwng iawn i'r hwn ac i deulogiaethau i'r ddau bod pwn i'r gwleiddoedd â'r cyfrifat ddeudio'n gweithio atdau a'r ddau a'r amser yn gwneud hyn. Ie nid wrth ddaf, mae'r ddau i'r ddau i'r ddau i'r ddau i eich ddau i'r ddau a'u ddau i'r ddau, i'r ddau i'r ddau i chi i'r ddau i'r ddau i'r bhais i'r ddau i'r ddau i'r requith. Mae'n gweithio gael cyd, ac mae'n neud mwy o gyflodd cychwyn i'r ddau i'r hefyd. Prozent of the University of Edinburgh University of Scotland, was asked this morning, Hillary Nelson from the Royal College of Nurses, when she said, things are not safe for patients. Deputy First Minister, what has the Health Secretary Hums a Yousave done to address the concerns from nurses about staff shortages and patient safety? Deputy First Minister. Before I address the question from Mr Ross, I should explain that the First Minister is meeting with the Prime Minister today in advance of the British Irish council and she has asked me to answer questions on her behalf. Let me associate myself entirely with Mr Ross' remarks in relation to the moment of remembrance over the weekend. We will all fall silent on Sunday, tomorrow in my constituency in the city of Perth. There will be a remembrance event that I will attend at 11 o'clock i ddyfodol o'r cyffredinol unig yn ysgol o'r ddweud. A rwy'n dweud, mae'r cyfnodd Caulyg Keith Brown, ac yn ystod y ddweud yn Ffawg Llywodraeth, ar y 40 yma, yn y ddyfodol yr ysgol yn ffawg Llywodraeth. Rwy'n dweud y ffianfau o'r oedd ymgyrchu, ac mae'r ffianfau o'r ddweud a'r fawr ac mae'r gweithio. Ie, os i'r gwneud o'r ddyfodol o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud, for the injuries that they have suffered and the experiences that they have had. There are many challenges in our health service and I recognise the concerns that are expressed by members of staff through the ballots that have taken place. There have been extensive negotiations that the health secretary and I have also been involved in to try to resolve the pay issues, and we have put forward a record pay deal, which on average will offer members of staff a 7 per cent increase for those in the lowest of incomes, and a 11 per cent increase recognising the enormous contribution that is made to our society by health service staff and recognising the enormous cost of living pressures that have been wrestled with by members of staff. In addition to that contribution to resolve those issues, the health secretary has been actively involved in discussions to address some of the challenges within our health service, principally around the issue of delayed discharge, which we recognise to be one of the most significant factors in impeding the flow of patients through accident and emergency and to other aspects of the health service. Then ideally to ensure that those individuals are supported appropriately within the community. There are challenges about the availability of members of staff to do that. We have record employment within the health service just now, but we also have vacancies and we have vacancies within social care, which has not been helped by the fact that we have lost free movement of citizens, which was helping us to deal with the issues that Mr Ross raises. I assure Mr Ross that, on all issues, the Government is entirely focused with very clear direction from the health secretary and with the active support of the First Minister and myself to make sure that we address the challenges that we face. Douglas Ross. That is the Scottish National Party's defence for what it is doing. Let's hear from nurses themselves. Don Marr from the Royal College of Nurses said this last night, We've been in talks for months and months and months and it has got to the point now where nursing staff are having to stand up not only for ourselves but for our patients as well because this Government is not listening. It's now beyond doubt that this health secretary has failed. Dr Peele, chair of BMA Scotland's junior doctors committee, said this week, Right now it's been so awful for so long we are simply broken, overwhelmed, exhausted with nothing left to give. As far as I can see the NHS is collapsing around us. Staff are leaving in their droves to protect themselves and the facts confirm that our NHS is on its knees. This week's statistics revealed that the situation at accident and emergency departments is at its worst ever levels. More patients are waiting longer than ever before. This is a new low but it's the 14th time since Humza Yousaf became health secretary that waiting times have hit their worst ever levels. Every time we think it can't get any worse under his leadership in the NHS it does. Deputy First Minister, surely you agree that this is a damning indictment of the health secretary's time in charge of Scotland's NHS. Always through the chair please, Deputy First Minister. Presiding Officer, what I accept is that there are very significant challenges in the national health service. There are very significant challenges in the national health service right across the United Kingdom. The point that Mr Ross makes about accident and emergency is an important point but it has to be considered in its proper context. In its proper context, although there are challenges in A&E in Scotland, we have the best performing A&E system in the United Kingdom. On the question of do Governments listen, yes this Government listens, that's why we've offered health service staff in Scotland the best pay deal of any system in the United Kingdom. On the question of the future of the national health service, resources are absolutely fundamental. That's why it is laughable for Douglas Ross to come here and raise these issues with me when only seven weeks ago he wanted me to cut tax in the folly taken forward by Liz Trust, who's been a damaged public investment in our health service. Douglas Ross John Swinney John Swinney wants to consider the statistics and the facts in the round. So let's make sure he is speaking about the correct figures because we know there are reports from a whistleblower this week. There is many as 2,000 patients per month are being missed off of any waiting times in just one hospital in Scotland. So if you're going to come to this chamber and quote figures, make sure they are the correct figures because this is the most serious of issues. Lives are on the line because this health secretary keeps failing to bring forward any solution. We've spoken to one lady this week who called an ambulance when she had a suspected heart attack. They waited for an hour for the ambulance to arrive. When it then got to hospital, they waited outside the hospital for three hours. When they got inside, they waited 36 hours to get a bed. The lady involved in her family are full of praise for the staff, but this is clear. It was a suspected heart attack and a tragedy has been avoided in this case. I know that every single MSP in this chamber, including those who clapped the Deputy First Minister's response, has cases like this coming from their area. Yet this morning, the health secretary, Hamza Yousaf, said, and this is a direct quote, our recovery plan is a five-year recovery plan. We are already seeing elements of recovery. What planet is he on? Deputy First Minister, can you tell this chamber? Can you tell patients? Can you tell staff in our NHS? What are the elements of recovery within the NHS? I remind members to speak through the chair, please. In relation to the circumstances that Mr Ross recounts, it is of the deepest of concern that a member of the public has had to wait that long for the degree of access to an ambulance and accident emergency. I would say to Mr Ross that the median time for the arrival of ambulances is of the order of 45 minutes, so the circumstances that he is recounted are unacceptable. There is congestion in our A&E departments, which is caused by the volume of presentations at A&E, and also because of the obstacle created by the number of patients who are in hospital that should be discharged. That is a focal point of significant activity across Government to ensure that we reduce delayed discharges. Indeed, the health secretary and I spent a significant amount of our time yesterday in discussion with partners about practical steps to address that. In relation to the question of improvements in the national health service, the Government has invested £600 million in the winter resilience support package. We are helping to recruit 1,000 members of health and care staff to support staff in their activities, and we are investing £50 million in urgent and unscheduled care to help to improve A&E performance. In terms of the progress that has been made, Mr Ross should be familiar with the fact that the longer waits for treatment are reducing significantly in relation to the two-year position, which was one of the priorities that was set by the health secretary. I accept that there are challenges in the national health service, but I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the members of staff who are working phenomenally hard on the back of a pandemic that Mr Ross has never acknowledged its significance. Can I ask members to remember that the code of conduct requires that we treat one another with courtesy and respect, and that means that we hear one another when we are speaking. I pay tribute to members of staff who are working phenomenally hard on the back of a pandemic that Mr Ross has never mentioned, which has put huge strain on our national health service, but they are doing their level best with the largest number of staff ever provided in the national health service by this Government to support the people of our country. I will always praise our NHS staff. I highlighted the case study that I used as an example where the family rightly praised our NHS staff, but John Swinney, like his boss, is using Covid as a deflection for his Government's failures because Karen Morrison from Forth Valley Unicyn, the Secretary of Unicyn for Forth Valley, described the situation at Forth Valley Royal hospital as far worse than we had in the pandemic, a million times worse. Stop using that as an excuse for your failures and start dealing with things. Through the chair, please. We have said to John Swinney, the SNP and this Government that Hamza Yousaf's recovery plan was hopeless. It was flimsy, no detail and no substance. The SNP insisted that it would get Scotland's NHS back on track, but that is what its recovery plan has delivered. Record vacancies, the longest ever waiting times, patients struggling to see their GP, nurses voting to strike for the first time ever and the worst A&E waiting time statistics on record. Scotland's NHS is in crisis. Whoever the SNP tried to blame, it's obvious that the man responsible is sitting right there next to the Deputy First Minister. Hamza Yousaf has failed and all he can do is spend that the SNP is in recovery when really it's at breaking point. Just how much worse does it have to get for patients and staff in Scotland before he takes responsibility? Deputy First Minister, Scotland's NHS deserves better than Hamza Yousaf. When will this health secretary be sacked? Deputy First Minister. Given the absolutely, totally chaotic turmoil of ministerial resignations and dismissals in the United Kingdom Government, what a laughable proposition to put to me this morning. You know, I've been active in politics for many years. I remember a Parliament for a quarter of a century and you know when somebody's run out of the road, when they start playing the man and not the issue, which is what Douglas Ross is doing just now. Thank you. Yes, there are challenges in the national health service. Yes, there are challenges, but there's a record payday on offer from the Scottish Government. Deputy First Minister, I'm being gesticulated at across the chamber. Members are shouting. I would be grateful if we could remember that, as Parliamentarians, we have a duty and a duty to adhere to a code of conduct, and that requires that we treat one another with courtesy and respect. I would ask all members to please remember that at all times. Let me just tell Douglas Ross the situation that we are facing and we're experiencing. We have the best payday on offer in the United Kingdom to health and care staff. We have record A&E performance, the best performance of any health system in the United Kingdom. We have record numbers of staff in the national health service. I'm going to tell him what's not helping. What's not helping is the folly of Brexit because Brexit has reduced the amount of staff available because of the loss of free movement and I'll tell Douglas Ross what's also not helping. It's the fact that the United Kingdom Government is not recognising the public spending pressures that exist because of inflation that they have fuelled by their stupid economic decisions and, as a consequence, public budgets are under enormous pressure. If Douglas Ross wants to make himself useful, he can ask the United Kingdom Government to increase the budget for the Scottish Government so that we can support the health service to a greater extent and start addressing the issues that face members of the public. Question 2, Anna Sarwar. Tomorrow is 11 November and, as we head towards Remembrance Sunday, we remember all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our country. We also thank all those who have served and continue to serve and pledged to support them, their families and their communities. We must never forget. For the first time in their history, the Royal College of Nursing has voted for strike action. This strike isn't just about pay. Nurses have been underpaid, undervalued and underresourced since long before the pandemic. This is the words of Julie Lamberth, the chair of RCN Scotland. The Scottish Government needs to face up to the reality that its failure to focus on workforce planning and to properly value those in health and social care over the last decade is the root cause of the staffing crisis that we face. The result of our strike ballot is a wake-up call that must not be ignored. Deputy First Minister, do you agree with Julie Lamberth and thousands of nurses across the country? First of all, let me associate myself again with the remarks of Mr Sarwar in relation to Remembrance Day. In relation to the situation in the national health service and the comments recounted from the Royal College of Nursing, let me first of all make it absolutely clear that the Government remains committed and willing to engage in dialogue and negotiation with the Royal College of Nursing and with the other affected and interested trade unions as we have been doing for some considerable time and notwithstanding the decisions that have been made by the members of the RCN, we will continue that dialogue and I commit the Government to that today. In relation to workforce planning, well, we find ourselves in a position today where we have record staffing levels in the national health service. Those staffing levels have been the product of sustained investment by this Government despite the climate of austerity in which we have been operating for some considerable time. The Government will continue to sustain that investment and to ensure that we have adequate levels of staffing, but the limitations on what the Government can do are firmly restricted by the financial context of which we are operating. The limitations of the pressures on the public finances by assuring Mr Sarwar and Parliament that the Government will do everything in our power to properly support the health service workforce and ensure that we have adequate numbers of staff within our national health service. Let me start on a point of agreement. I agree that we are in the midst of an economic crisis and inflation crisis that has been made by a rotant Tory Government at Westminster, and they should pay the price for that and they will pay the price for that come the next general election. The Deputy First Minister missed the point of what Julie Lamberth was saying, a decade of failure, a decade of not supporting, long before the last seven weeks of this economic crisis and even before the pandemic and even before Brexit, but still this Government gives the same old platitude about more numbers when we have record vacancies in the NHS under this Government's watch. This action is as much for patients as it is for nurses. Nurses have been warning for years that staff shortages risk patient safety. Let's look at just one health word, Greater Glasgow and Clyde. In just one year, they reported 216 investigations into significant adverse events and these are events that the quote could have caused or did result in harm to people or groups of people. Among the top reasons for why they happened are workload, staffing levels and delays in referral and treatment. The same report reveals that sick people died due to these unintended incidents. Deputy First Minister, nurses are saying that a lack of resources is putting patients at risk. Lives are being lost and health boards are reporting the consequences. Yet this Government's failure to workforce plan means 6,000 nursing and midwifery vacancies. Why have you let it come to this? Deputy First Minister. Mr Sarwar's comments are not borne out by the evidence that I have marshaled in my answers today. I am addressing the questions from Mr Sarwar. Mr Sarwar has raised with me the issues about workforce planning. We find ourselves today with record levels of staffing in our national health service. If that is not a product of workforce planning which has been designed to boost recruitment levels, we have seen over the last 10 years an increase in nursing and student midwifery admissions over the course of that 10-year period as a consequence of the investment that the Government has made. We are in a situation where we have an increase in the number of consultants that are operating within the national health service. In Scotland we have 8.3 qualified nurses and midwives per 1,000 population compared to six in England. All of that comparative data shows Scotland to be in a better and a stronger position. What I do not think helps the situation is the comments made at the weekend by the leader of the United Kingdom Labour Party, who said, I think we are recruiting too many people from overseas into, for example, the health service. I listened to those comments with incredulity because what is hampering us in the national health service is the Brexit that was inflicted on us by the Conservatives ending free movement of individuals which has lost members of staff from our national health service. We need to reverse that. We need to have an approach that is open to migration so we can boost the recruitment into our national health service. The comments from Keir Starmer are a disastrous signal to give to hard-working members of staff. Anas Sarwar. Let me address that final point. I have led a cross-party campaign in this Parliament against racial and religious prejudice, so no one should miscategorise my position or the position of my party. People might want to heckle, but they should listen. We will hear Mr Sarwar. Let me be clear. Migrants play an invaluable part in our NHS and they always have done and they always would do. I would also say that people who come and work in our NHS are not migrants, they are equal Scots just like the rest of us. That should not stop us having a credible workforce plan that means that we train more doctors and nurses here. The First Minister has rightly been calling in the last few days for more action on loss and damage on climate change. We should not pretend that taking nurses and doctors from developing countries does not cause loss and damage to healthcare systems in those countries. Let's not create a climate of fear, let's not change and play on that rhetoric that is beneath the Deputy First Minister and let's actually talk about what is happening here right now in the SNP's watch. I also listened to the answer that the Deputy First Minister gave. His head is frankly in the sand. It's all good if it's so rosy. Why are they striking for the strike action for the first time in their history? Nurses have been crying out for years about the problems long before the pandemic and let's not forget these were the staff who were who kept going even when their lives were at risk from a deadly virus but they're now being forced into action to try and save their patients' lives. Week after week tragic stories come to this Parliament and week after week we get the same old excuses. This health secretary and this Government are clearly out of their depth. After 15 years in Government 750,000 Scots on an NHS waiting list, the worst ever waits at A&E and now the Royal College of Nursing going on strike for the first time in their history. Does the Deputy First Minister accept that our NHS has not faced a crisis like this in its history? That it's the worst it's ever been and it's all happening on the SNP's watch? Deputy First Minister First of all I think I touched a very raw nerve with my comments about Keir Starmer because anyone looking at my track record of all my public service will find that I have always always been on the side of openness and about welcoming people from other countries into into our society and the point I'm making to Anna Sauer is that our ability to recruit staff our ability to provide the necessary means by which people can work in our national health service have been totally undermined by Brexit and the Conservative Government and Keir Starmer by his comments at the weekend and by his hostility to addressing any issues about migration is simply taking the same line as the Tories and that is an absolute disgrace. Let me say that the international recruitment undertaken by the Scottish Government is done through an ethical route and we do not actively recruit from any of the World Health Organization's redlist countries in relation to recruitment of staff. Now lastly I have acknowledged this afternoon as my colleagues have done on other occasions there are huge pressures in the national health service. They are because we have had a pandemic because we are recovering from that pandemic and we are experiencing enormous strain in the process of so-doing. So in that sense I accept the points that Mr Sauer is raising about the seriousness of the situation that we are facing. Let me tell Mr Sauer this the Scottish Government is absolutely focused on giving the necessary leadership and resourcing to addressing those circumstances and we will continue to do so with the actions and the support of people in Scotland over successive elections that people in Scotland are supportive of the work that we undertake. I am going to move to question 3 and take supplementaries at the end. In order to reach those supplementaries I would ask that we have short and concise questions and responses to match and I call Maggie Chapman question 3. To ask the Deputy First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to mitigate the impact and prevalence of fires in Scotland caused by accelerating climate change such as those seen during the high temperatures last summer. Deputy First Minister. Climate change is identified as a strategic priority in the Scottish Government's 2022 fire framework. It requires the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to invest in the provision of special resources and technological advancements along with prevention activity and public awareness to enhance its response to the increased flooding and welfare associated with climate change. The Government is responding to the full range of climate risks identified for Scotland through its 2019 adaptation programme which sets out more than 170 policies and proposals to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change as part of our just transition to net zero emissions by 2045. We are preparing our next programme in response to the most recent UK climate change risk assessment for publication in 2024. Maggie Chapman. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that response. In spring and summer this year we were repeatedly warned of extreme wildfires across Scotland. We saw blazes spread rapidly through urban areas in England. Research shows that firefighters come into regular contact with carcinogenic combustion products. They have high risks of cancer and get these cancers earlier in life than the general population. In fact, the World Health Organization recently classified firefighting as a carcinogenic profession. We clearly have a responsibility to ensure our firefighters who tackle these blazes are safe. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure our firefighters do have the equipment they need to keep themselves safe? What plans are in place to ensure fire stations have the necessary decontamination equipment? And whether the Scottish Government will consider routine health screening for firefighters to catch any illnesses as early as possible? Deputy First Minister. There's a range of points in the questions posed to me by Maggie Chapman, which are properly operational matters for the chief fire officer and the SFRS board in allocating the £352.7 million of budget provision that we make available to them, which looks at the whole range of improvements and enhancements that have to be made in the fire and rescue service. I am aware that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service contaminants group are taking action across all aspects of operations to reduce exposure to harmful contaminants. I understand also that that group met with Professor Anna Steck of the University of Central Lancashire to hear directly of the important research work that she is undertaking in relation to these questions and to offer SFRS co-operation on that work. Before I take a supplementary, can I remind members that supplementary questions should be brief and should not consist of multiple questions? I call Siobhan Brown. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what measures are in place to protect Scotland from any potential risks to cyber security? Deputy First Minister, my apologies. That was question number four. Thank you. Cyber resilience underpins everything we deliver as a Government and is crucial to fully realise Scotland's digital ambitions. Cyber security policy is reserved. However, in recent years we have worked steadily with key partners to build Scotland's cyber resilience. In 2021 we published the strategic framework for a cyber resilience Scotland which sets out a vision for a digitally secure and resilient Scotland and builds upon our initial strategy published in 2015. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer. Cyber security is flourishing in Scotland with the first Cyber Scotland summit just a few weeks ago and Edinburgh aiming towards becoming the data capital of Europe. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what we are going to do to continue this positive path through building cyber resilience in the public sector? Deputy First Minister. The Scottish Government has been working directly with public bodies to improve their cyber resilience and through the roll-out of the public sector cyber resilience framework more and more public sector bodies are regularly testing their incident management and business continuity plans. That can only help to improve their resistance to cyber attacks. We are also progressing with the establishment of the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre which draws together the work of Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and other organisations to enhance Scotland's ability to prepare for and to respond to cyber incidents. Will Smith. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister if the Scottish Government will now commission a full independent inquiry into the medical negligence of the former LJML Professor at NHS Tayside and the related governance issues given that more and more patients are coming forward to tell their horrific stories? Can I sorry, Deputy First Minister Deputy First Minister this is not a supplementary to this particular question we may have time to come back to general constituency supplementaries in the mind of this session. Can I go on to question number 5 Graham Simpson. To ask the Deputy First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the reported comments by Highlands and Islands Enterprise that cheaper air travel for business passengers could help to strengthen the viability of island routes. Deputy First Minister. We recognise that reliable and affordable transport helps to maintain thriving communities and local economies. That is why we provide significant funding to make air travel to our remote communities including the islands more affordable. This year we have allocated over 77 million pounds to support air services in the Highlands and Islands. That includes funding to Hyal to maintain their airports and the air discount scheme which provides island residents with a 50% discount on fares to and from the mainland. It also includes subsidy for the air services from Glasgow to Cambelltown, Tairi and Barra. Graham Simpson. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer. We know things are bad when a Scottish Government agency speaks of people moving away from the islands because the links are so poor. At least Highlands and Islands Enterprise understand the desperation of islanders so much so that they are giving £15,000 to some of them to look into how to run their own ferry services. HIE say that many island businesses rely on planes to get them on and off the islands and that's largely because the ferries are so unreliable. So cheaper airfares for businesses will bolster vital air routes. HIE also say that better links for everyone will help to stop depopulation. They point to chronic issues around the West Coast ferry fleet to help island councils who run their own services to replace their own fleets. Will the Government do anything more about airfares? Will it help the councils to fund new ferries? When is this Government going to pull its finger out? Tell us how it wants to run ferries in the future and set out a proper ferry replacement plan. Deputy First Minister. As I said to my original answer, the Government is significantly funding the air services in the Highlands Islands to the tune of £77 million. Of course, if Mr Simpson is making an argument for more money to be spent on this it's a bit rich since seven weeks ago the Conservatives were asking me to reduce taxes which would have come at the expense of public expenditure. No amount of agitated explanations from Rachel Hamilton is going to defer from my course to point out that the Conservatives come to this chamber with absolutely hypocritical propositions about lowering taxing and increasing spending at the same time. On the question of public expenditure for ferries about 10 years ago the Government was spending £139 million annually on ferry services we are now spending £315 million on ferry services and expanding the routes and the services that people can rely upon. Liam McArthur In 2011 SNP ministers removed island businesses from the air discount scheme with no prior consultation ministers desperately tried to blame the EU which was still being used as an SNP bogeyman back in 2011. But they eventually admitted that it was a cost cutting measure. Given the assessment of HIE which backs early analysis by high trans showing that the ADS cut negatively impacted staff productivity, turnover and operating costs will the Government now reverse the cut and allow businesses in the Highlands and Islands the chance to compete on a level playing field? Deputy First Minister The Government makes substantial investments in the hands and hands of the air network that I have set out. £77 million is what is being spent to support that network. Obviously the Government will engage constructively with local communities as I and other ministers do on a constant basis but we have got to make choices about the availability of resources and concentrate those resources in the most effective way to ensure that we support island communities and as I announced just in the emergency budget review last week we are putting additional financial support to the recovery from Covid. To ask the First Minister what urgent steps are being taken to ensure safe staffing across the NHS in light of recent reports of staff shortages potentially contributing to patient death. Deputy First Minister The Scottish Government is taking a number of measures to ensure safe staffing across the national health service. This includes providing funding to health boards to support the recruitment of additional staff, measures to make it easier to retain and rehire experienced staff and measures to improve health system flow timely discharge from hospital and to improve patient safety. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer but today's smokescreen excuses of Brexit and Covid don't wash. The Deputy First Minister would do well to listen to the former CEO of NHS Scotland Professor Paul Gray who has stated that our NHS is going to be overwhelmed regardless of Covid. His excuses do not explain why the First Minister slashed training places for nurses in midwives back in 2012 to his health secretary. He does not explain why the Scottish Government missed its own target of recruiting 700 new student nurses this year and he does not explain why for the first time in history nurses have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. I dispute not just about pay but about better working conditions and higher standards on wards. The responsibility for the situation lies at the door of the Government and this failing health secretary. Two people have died at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital last summer with their deaths linked to short staffing. Our health service is on its knees due to this Government's incompetence. When will the Deputy First Minister commit to an investigation urgently into those two deaths? When will he give a commitment to get a grip on safe staffing and ensure that all of our staff hardworking are supported with dignity and respect? I regret to any loss of life and questions about the investigation of individual deaths and what a matter for me is a matter for the Crown should it decide to do so. I think that Mr O'Kane does a disservice to this topic by brushing aside the implications of Brexit and Covid. We have to live in the real world about the pressures that are arising out of the implications of the pandemic and the significant loss of access to staff that have come about as a consequence of Brexit. The Government is investing significantly to create a position where we have record numbers of staff in the national health service, where we are working to reduce delayed discharge because that is one of the identifiable ways of improving performance in the health service and in ensuring patient safety, and those efforts will continue to be the focus of intervention by Scottish ministers. We move to supplementaries and I call Bob Doris. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have been contacted by constituents on the receipt of disability benefits. I have been alarmed over the comments of the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mell Stride, who has refused to relate means testing of disability benefits for claimants elsewhere in the UK. I therefore ask the Deputy First Minister to offer his reassurances to those in receipt of such benefits here in Scotland that means testing will not be introduced here in Scotland. Can he consider how either Social Security Scotland or the Scottish Government can reach out directly to Scottish claimants or to them? As Mr Doris will know, when the legislation was put through Parliament to establish Social Security Scotland and to handle the benefits that are now the responsibility of the Scottish Government, we legislated for dignity and compassion and respect to underpin the approach that we would take to the exercise of our responsibilities in relation to social security. I assure Mr Doris and Parliament that those values will underpin all of the actions of Social Security Scotland. We will communicate those widely because those are the foundations for any decent and respectful social security system. Liz Smith. Thank you for the second opportunity. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister if I could ask him whether the Scottish Government will now commission a full independent inquiry into the medical negligence of Professor Elja Male, the former disgraced surgeon at NHS Tayside and the governance issues, given that more and more patients are coming forward with their horrific stories about what happened to them. Deputy First Minister. First of all I recognise the seriousness of the issue that Liz Smith raises with me today and I express my regret to anybody who has suffered as a consequence of the practice of Professor Elja Male. The health secretary, as Liz Smith will know, has already met her to discuss this issue and he's also met with some of the those affected by the actions of Professor Elja Male. As Liz Smith will know, NHS Tayside commissioned a review from the Royal College of Surgeons into the practice of Professor Elja Male. Those are professional issues that affected his clinical practice and obviously restricted Professor Elja Male's clinical responsibilities as a consequence. The health secretary has made it clear to NHS Tayside that he expects them to meet with those who are affected and where possible to answer any questions that remain unanswered given the fact that those issues have been thoroughly examined by the Royal College of Surgeons or NHS Tayside already. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Deputy First Minister, the results of the Scottish Health Survey 2021 published earlier this week highlight and I quote from the summary report average levels of mental wellbeing were lower in 2021 than in 2019. The survey highlights that experience of depression, anxiety, attempted suicide and self-harm were more common in the most deprived areas. Those figures highlight that the Scottish Government's failure to address the root causes of mental health difficulties is having a direct and detrimental impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the Scottish population and, importantly, is failing to address the health inequalities that impact the most vulnerable in our society. Can the Deputy First Minister outline clearly how the Scottish Government across Government portfolios plans to improve mental wellbeing and will set out a timescale for ministers to report back and how the Scottish Government will eradicate the health inequalities that are deepening divisions in communities across my south of Scotland region and beyond? The Government takes forward a range of different measures to tackle the issue of health inequalities in all of our communities, whether that's the work that we take forward in relation to the eradication of child poverty, which is captured in the authority delivery plan that Parliament considered earlier on this year, which has at its heart the addressing of some of the fundamental issues that Carl Mocken puts to me. That is supplemented by the work that is undertaken to tackle and to address addiction within our communities, whether that's drug addiction or alcohol addiction with the various measures that are put in place in that respect. Then also, the Government has achieved the objectives of the recruitment of staff in relation to the provision of counselling services both within our schools and also within the wider community as a consequence of the projects and priorities that we set out. I acknowledge the importance of these issues and I assure Carl Mocken of the commitment of the Government right across a range of portfolios to address these issues because the questions of health inequalities are directly connected to questions of poverty and wider inequality in our society. The Government's agenda is determined to address these questions. Natalie Dawn. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As the Tory-made cost of living crisis soars, it will sadly come as little surprise that the Trussell Trust have today said it has recorded its busiest period ever between April and September 2022, distributing around 116,000 parcels in Scotland. Does the Deputy First Minister believe that an increasing reliance on not only food banks but now even warm banks is illustrative of a Westminster system that is not working for people across Scotland? Deputy First Minister. I do agree with the point that Natalie Dawn puts to me. The issue is it not. Thank you members. Let us hear one another. Thank you. I do agree with Natalie Dawn. My principle ally in providing me with material to support that position is none other than the chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party. Mr Craig Hoy said that Liz Truss made the wrong decision in going for growth in the way that she did. I think that there is a price tag attached to that. I think that we have to be realistic about the consequences of that which may be taxed cuts or public spending cuts. The only bit that I disagree with Mr Hoy about is that I do not think that it will just be either tax cuts or public spending cuts. I suspect that it will be both. It will be the unbridled responsibility of the Conservative Party who, when that stupid budget came out, demanded that I follow that course of action. That would have inflicted misery on the public in Scotland, coupled to their inaction over the summer on energy costs. The Tories are responsible for the cost of living crisis and they should pay a price for it. Thank you. I call Ross McCall. Thank you. Presiding Officer, for over two years women in Fife with endometriosis have had no access to a dedicated specialist gynaecology department since the closure of the ward at the Victoria hospital. Constituents have informed me that patients are being admitted into a section of the maternity ward, leading to an appalling situation where women who have just suffered a miscarriage are separated from women nursing newborn children with nothing more than a curtain. The Deputy First Minister will be aware that it takes on average eight years for endometriosis to be diagnosed with women living in severe pain suffering with excess bleeding and put on painkillers for excessive periods of time and needing surgery. I ask the chair when will the vital services at the Victoria hospital be reinstated so that women can get access to the care that they so desperately need? I understand the point that has been made to me by Ross McCall and I assure her that the challenges that will be faced on service provision around the country where there is a high degree of specialism involved in some of that care can be affected by movement of staff around the country in various other circumstances and obviously the health service works as hard as possible to minimise any disruption of that care. I recognise the seriousness of the point that she puts to me. I would say that one of the initial priorities of the women's health plan is to improve access for women to appropriate support, diagnosis and the best treatment for endometriosis and to improve the care pathways that are involved. The Government will focus on those particular issues and I will look specifically at the issues about NHS Fife that she raises with me today. Neil Bibby Thank you, Presiding Officer. A catastrophic blunder at Remfrewshire Council means that the newly built Dargaville primary school is half the size that needs to be built. For a capacity of around 450 pupils the estimated role is set to be 1,100 children. I promised a new school now face learning in Port of Cabins. Parents are appalled and have lost confidence in Remfrewshire Council. This mistake will cost millions of pounds from Remfrewshire's already squeezed education budget at colossal waste. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister and parents to discuss what solutions can be provided for local children now to make sure that there is accountability for what has gone wrong here and to ensure that no other child in Remfrewshire loses out from any resulting shortfall in school budgets? Deputy First Minister It's obviously a matter of concern when issues of this take their course. Of course, the points that Mr Bibby raises with me come against the backdrop of widespread improvements in the school of state across the whole of Scotland. When this Government came to office 63 per cent of children were being educated in good or satisfactory buildings that is now in excess of 90 per cent as a consequence of the investment that the Government has made. There is an individual problem that he is raising with me about this school but the general position in Scotland is that it is improving the nature of the school of state. I will happily meet Mr Bibby and his constituents to consider the issues that he raises with me but I would encourage him to recognise that issues of this type can emerge in the planning of individual projects but that against the backdrop of sustained investment by this Government the quality of the school of state is very low. That concludes First Minister's questions. Point of order, Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Once again, I seek your guidance on the procedures surrounding the correcting of the official report. Yesterday it was revealed by the think tank of these islands that a key Government statistic is false. It is a claim which will be familiar to every single MSP in this chamber that Scotland has 25 per cent of Europe's potential offshore wind resource. Over the years, this has been referenced countless times, both inside and outside this Parliament by SNP ministers and MSPs. In this chamber they include successive environment secretaries First Minister Alex Salmond and Deputy First Minister John Swinney. The current First Minister Constitution Secretary, Net Zero Secretary have all made the claim to other audiences. It was reheated just yesterday when Environment Minister Lorna Slater in the Edinburgh Evening News but it is a statistic that has now been proven to be false. A bogus analysis of a mixture of reports dating all the way back to 1993 when the technology was in its infancy and using a definition of Europe that excluded renewable powerhouses like Sweden, Norway and Finland. It wasn't the case that it was accurate in 2010, as the spokesperson claimed this week. It was never accurate. Several servants have been privately warning against its use for at least two years. Warning has never been properly sourced and that these figures have recycled robotically without really checking them. The true figure for Scotland's share of offshore wind potential is thought to be around just 5% yet still the 25% claim appeared in the finance secretary's national strategy for economic transformation this March. Again, multiple times in the SNP-led debate on independence in the House of Commons last week from SNP leader Ian Blackford, Ronny Ciaran, Christian Allwood. I can't recall a comparable situation where a completely fictitious statistic has been relied on so often and so widely. This matters because the Scottish Government has put this claim at the heart of the debates around Scotland's energy security on independence and our meeting our climate targets. I fully support the expansion of Scotland's renewable sector and desperately want to see Scotland fulfil our renewable potential, but the strong case for that isn't helped when the figures used by the Scottish Government leave it open to charge of misleading and misrepresenting. Presiding Officer, can I see your guidance on how the official report should be corrected in all of these circumstances where there has been a pattern of misinformation dating back over a decade leaving bogus claims littered across the transcripts of the numerous sittings of the Scottish Parliament? Can I ask whether any members of the Scottish Government have approached you about making a statement to correct these records given the provisions of point 5 of the guidance on corrections of inaccuracies in information provided in parliamentary proceedings? I thank Mr Cole-Hamilton for his point of order. It is, of course, a matter of courtesy and respect that members ensure that contributions and proceedings are accurate, but in the event that a member becomes aware that they have provided inaccurate information, they can seek to make use of the corrections mechanism within 20 working days of the publication of the original official report. The mechanism sets out what the Parliament has agreed are the appropriate steps to make other members aware that a correction has been made in the business bulletin and on the Parliament's website. It is published there, too, to ensure transparency. The corrections procedure allows members to seek to make a statement to the Parliament if they realise that a significant error has been made. The decision on whether or not to seek to make such a statement is a matter for the member and no request has been made to me on that point. There will be a brief pause before we move on to members' business.