 We turn now to topical questions and we start with question number one from John Finnie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to report that widespread disruption to CalMac's services is anticipated until the end of May. Minister Humza Yousaf. CalMac is trying its best to mitigate the impact on the network over the period to the end of May. It is redeploying vessels within the fleet to ensure that lifeline connections are maintained to the communities that serve in the Clyde and Hepaties network. The MV Clansman was expected out of DryDoc on 11 March, however, damage to the propulsion system and rudder has led to delay with essential repairs required. Safety must, of course, be my and indeed CalMac's top priority with the delivery of services. However, I also fully understand the frustration of communities on the Clyde and Hepaties network, which rely on their ferry services. The frequency of service for some routes may, however, be reduced from normal during the period of disruption and have been amended to suit. CalMac has also secured an extension from the AMCA, the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, for the MV Hebrides passenger certificate, thereby avoiding two major vessels being out of the fleet at the same time. The MV Locke-Brizda will commence service in the Mleig armadale route later today as well. Finally, I will continue to closely monitor the situation and even today have spoken to the chair and indeed the interim director of CalMac. I obtained figures from CalMac this week showing that there were 3,852 cancellations in the last five years because of the result of mechanical failures. The average age on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service route is 23 years, and older vessels need longer periods of repair and dry dock. Lack of co-ordination between Caledonia and Maritime Assets Ltd, who own and maintain the vessels in CalMac, is clearly a factor. Minister, do you believe that, given the huge scale of disruption, the vessel's replacement and deployment plan, developed by Seymal and CalMac in 2016, and published in January, is fit for purpose? Minister, I'm using it. Yes. The point of the vessel's plan, of course, is that we have a road map for the coming years in order to address the ageing fleet issue that he quite frankly mentions. Of course, what we have seen is a huge growth in terms of island tourism, and that, of course, has been helped by RET and the introduction of RET. To extent, we have seen 37 per cent vehicle growth over the past five years. When there are helpful suggestions around our vessel redeployment plan, then, of course, I will happily sit down with the member and take his suggestions. However, the Government is investing in vessels, the latest of which, of course, he knows, are being built on the Clyde, where we have brought commercial shipbuilding back onto the Clyde. The sooner, of course, that they are completed, the better. What we can do in terms of a short-term solution to some of the issues that are being faced in the Clyde and Hebrides Network, I have asked CalMac to look at what additional sailings can be put on in order to mitigate some of the disruption that we have seen. John Finnie. I thank you for those comments. Minister, you will understand that frustrations remain nonetheless. The Scottish Government's ferry plan for 2013-2023 recommended replacement of the majority of the CalMac fleet. However, SEMAL is entirely responsible for design and procurement. Do you, Minister, see a role for the public sector operator and trade unions earlier in the procurement process? Finally, what overall assessment has the Government made of this disruption to our island communities, please? I certainly would not be adverse to that at all, that suggestion around being involved in the procurement at an earlier stage. I think that it is a good one, so let me go back and reflect on how we do that. I just go back to my central point that we are investing, and we have invested in, I think, around about eight vessels in our time since 2007. We have got two that are being built, as I say, at Ferguson's. Then we have also committed, of course, that the next vessel will serve the island route for which I have helpfully on my left, of course, the MSP, which represents that island. We will continue to invest, but his point is not lost to me. There is frustration when there is an issue or a breakdown on the network. It can have quite catastrophic results, so our immediate priority in CalMac is to ensure that lifeline services can continue. CalMac is also very aware of particular pinch points, and it wants to ensure that, when it comes to, for example, the whisky festival in Islay or the World War I commemorations that are taking place, that there are either additional salings being put on or, in some respects, additional capacity wherever possible. The points that the member raises are the ones that I will reflect on. Kate Forbes The Mallag to Armadale crossing has been hit particularly hard by the domino effect of CalMac moving vessels around the network. It is a reminder of the difficult season of summer 2016. It is costing local businesses and residents. I am sure that the minister will agree that that is concerning. Will he raise that with CalMac and urge him to find an immediate solution for Sky and the Haber residents? Minister I entirely agree that there is an issue of frustration there. I have met the various stakeholders in Mallag Armadale on a number of occasions, including the MSP and the local MP, to discuss that. I have to say that, in 2017, we were in a much better situation than we were in 2016, and it feels, unfortunately, that we have gone somewhat backwards. That is not an acceptable situation at all to be in. However, I hope that she is reassured by the news that I gave my opening remark and answer, which was that Loch Bruzda will commend service on Mallag Armadale today, which will help, of course. However, we have to look at Mallag Armadale at the longer-term solution, and again, looking at what vessels will be built in the future will undoubtedly be part of that. Donald Cameron Thank you. The minister will be well aware of the current disruption based on Oban to Cull and Tyree service, the Mallag to Loch Boysdale route and the address into Campbelltown summer service. Can the minister explain why the Government has let the situation get completely out of hand, not least since islands and communities are now being pitted against each other in a competition for ferries? I do not agree with the premise of his question. I should say that the services that he mentions have been raised with me by Mike Russell on a number of occasions, and we are working closely with constituency MSPs and indeed MPs. I was recently on both Islay and Dura taking part in a transport summit on some of those issues, as well as those that affect a number of other islands on the Clyde and Hebrides network. It is not about—I should say that it is very simplistic, but frankly, it is a very immature response to what is a very serious and complex issue. We have a huge growth, as I have already explained, 37 per cent in terms of vehicle traffic over the past five years, which is great because we are seeing more people travelling to our islands. We then have to invest in ferries, which we have built eight and another two that we are building at Ferguson's. We cannot magic them up overnight, but the solutions that we can do is to look out on the open market to see where we can charter additional tonnage, and we should do that, and we are doing that. That equally comes, of course, at a cost, and they have to fit into the ports and harbours. Then, of course, we can also look at additional sailings, which we are actively and CalMac are actively doing. The idea that one island is getting pit against the other is language that I would counsel the member to perhaps avoid in the future, because that is not what is happening here. What we are trying to do is to make sure that lifeline services in the face of disruption can be preserved, and I hope that, as I say, we can find some solutions to that. David Stewart Thank you, Presiding Officer. The minister will be well aware of my high regard for CalMac, but the CalMac community board has recently expressed concern about disruption caused by ferry failures in the fleet. As we have heard from John Finnie, would the minister share my assessment that the age of vessels is a key concern, eight or more than 30 years old and half or more than 25 years old? Could the minister discuss with CalMac and Seamall the resilience of the fleet and the related issue of maintenance and dry docking? I thank Dave Stewart for the tone of his question, which, in stark contrast to the one that we heard previously, understands the complexity of the issue. The ageing vessel fleet is an issue for us. We have invested in vessels more than in previous administrations, so we have invested in vessels and will continue to invest in vessels, but he is absolutely right. The point that he makes about dry docking demonstrates his understanding of the issue that I appreciate, which is that, as the age of the vessel increases, it may well have to spend longer to maintain dry docking. CalMac has to fact that in order to minimise disruption. That is the conversation that CalMac is having. As well as investing in additional tonnage, vessels and sailings, I should say, but also actively looking at how we can spend money to refit, refurbish or even re-engineer vessels to get to sweat out the asset for even longer. All those are a part of the mixing solution, but none of them come without a price tag, and many of them are not overnight solutions either. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the number of doctors who are seeking early retirement has doubled in the last eight years. Under this Government, NHS staffing and doctor numbers have increased to a record high level. In fact, in the last eight years, the number of doctors working in our NHS has increased by more than 1,800. That is an increase of more than 17 per cent. Although the recently shared figures on early retirement are for NHS staff in general rather than doctors specifically, we know that there are a number of factors that can lead to someone choosing early retirement. For example, for GPs, we have heard previously that the UK Government reducing the lifetime allowance for pensions tax relief in recent years has led a number of GPs to take early retirement. We have outlined a number of actions through part 1 of our health and care workforce plan to increase the number of opportunities for people to train as doctors. We have also created an additional 140 medical training places since 2017. We will build on that when we publish part 3 of the plan for primary care next week, including reiterating our aim of increasing GP numbers by 800 over the next decade. Every day, we hear stories of NHS staff who are overworked, undervalued and underresourced. Figures show that, over the last eight years of this SNP Government, the early retirements of NHS staff have doubled. In the cabinet secretary's own backyard of crisis-hit NHS Tayside, it is more than trebled. That is shameful. Can I ask the cabinet secretary to stop the complacent responses and instead give Scotland a credible workforce plan? Can we have a credible workforce plan from a credible health secretary? Can I say that every day, our NHS delivers a fantastic service to the people of Scotland, which is why patient satisfaction rates are at a record high. In there, Anasawa asked about the workforce plan. As I said to him in the initial answer, we have already published parts 1 and 2 of the workforce plan. Part 3, focusing on primary care, will be published next week. That lays out a comprehensive plan of how we are going to grow all parts of the workforce, including the medical workforce. As I said in my initial answer, we have created an additional 140 medical training places since just last year alone. I think that all of that taken together is a good news story. If the workforce commission that Anasawa established over a year ago has any good ideas to bring forward when it eventually reports, we will look forward to having constructive input to the workforce planning debate. The reality is that those problems are a result of years of mismanagement. The cabinet secretary mentions NHS staff. She is right that we should thank our staff, but our thanks is not enough. NHS staff member after NHS staff member telling us about the pressure that they face every single day. As Peter Benny of the BMA put at the weekend, doctors are under pressure like never before. That mismanagement was further highlighted this morning at health committee where it was revealed that NHS Lothian alone needs £31 million more money just to keep existing levels of service. When will the cabinet secretary get her head out of the sand and recognise that we need meaningful action now, not the same old tired excuses? Cabinet secretary, it is time to step up or step down. Shona Robison Every day, our NHS staff deliver a fantastic service. Of course, what Anasawa failed to mention was that the BMA acknowledged that we have more staff and more resources, but they also not unreasonably pointed out that demand is increasing, which is why we are providing record funding to Scotland's NHS. We have recently announced further investment of more than £350 million in Scotland's front-line health boards, including additional investment in service reform and improvement of £175 million in order to meet that increasing demands because of an ageing population. As I said, NHS staff numbers are at a historically high level but up by more than 13,000 under the Government, with more doctors, nursing and medwifery staff now delivering care for the people of Scotland. We are expanding that with a further 55 undergraduate medical training places. As I said earlier, we have created an additional 140 medical training places since last year alone. Of course, we are committed to 800 more GPs over the next 10 years. I think that, taken together, that is a pretty good package of workforce planning. Sandra White Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I have recently visited Grauselroyal infirmary in myself, and the services have nothing but praise for the staff there. I think that it is time that we started to say more of that instead of degenerating the staff in the workforce there. As the minister mentioned about shortages, which is obviously mentioned by Anna Sarwar, if the minister shares my concerns about the potential impact of Brexit, what effect will that have on recruiting and retaining staff in our NHS? Shona Robison Of course, we are concerned that Brexit is already damaging recruitment and retention of EU staff. In order to mitigate that, we have committed to looking to pay a settled status fee for any EU citizen working in devolved public services in Scotland. That will help us to keep vital workers in the NHS. Of course, wherever staff they come from in the NHS do a fantastic job, the message is that we want to keep people working here. Wherever they come from, they have a huge role to play in our NHS, and they are most welcome. We want them to stay, and we want others to join us. The Presiding Officer Thank you. That concludes topical question.