 Doedd cysylltu gynnogi argylcheddau, yn gweithio, o holl m dependsu arlesiau drws. Diolch i drafod ddechrau, ddweud. Ie, ddaw ni'n gwneud ddechrau yn Gwyrttin, palon diddymian, ddau'r prysgwyr. Rhaid i'r SNP cyfuol sy'n gweithio am Llywodraeth Cymru yn y gynhyrchu. Roedd hyn yn i'r holl o'r berthynas i'r hosbelyd yn weithio ddwylliann 24-hysgrif. Mae'n ynnigoddiad yn ychydig tân o'r gymhoeddu NHS yn gennym. A phos o gydafnutu'r ysgrifennidol oedai, mae'n dουςiect i мираeth. Y Wislloblwyr yn ystafell. Mae rhai o'r fryd i gyllteidiaeth. Felly, we are struggling to provide first world care in what feels like a third world environment. Given that, how can the First Minister say that the health secretary has done all he can to support NHS staff and prepare for this crisis? First Minister, in relation to reports in the media this morning about staff in Greater Glasgow and Clyde being asked to work 24-hour shifts, that, as I am assured by NHS Greater and Glasgow and Clyde, and as the board has said publicly, is not true. Let me just quote NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, there is absolutely no truth to these claims. The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde does not ask nursing staff to work a 24-hour shift and there was no prospect that any staff member would need to work for 24 hours to suggest otherwise is inaccurate and misleading. I would not expect any health board to request any member of staff to do that. Secondly, staff across the national health service in Scotland, indeed staff across the national health services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, are struggling right now. They are doing an extraordinary and a magnificent job and my heartfelt thanks go to all of them. They are struggling in the face of unprecedented pressure on our national health service, pressure from Covid, even more so in recent weeks from flu and, of course, from other respiratory illnesses. We hope that pressure will abate in the weeks to come, but in the meantime, the Government continues to do everything possible to support NHS boards as they address those pressures. Lastly, in relation to the announcement from Greater Glasgow and Clyde last night, as I said on Monday, we have empowered NHS boards to take action that they think is appropriate to protect critical and life-saving care. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has paused non-urgent elective procedures in order that they can prioritise urgent treatment and cancer care, and I would expect that to be for a very short period. That is my final point. It insults people's intelligence to suggest that the problems being encountered in the NHS in Scotland, which are the same as the problems being encountered elsewhere, are somehow down to the health secretary. Is it, for example, the fault of Humza Yousaf that the kind of action that Greater Glasgow and Clyde announced last night has also been taken in health services in South London, in Surrey, in York, in Scarborough, in Derby, in Leicester, in Nottingham, in Southampton and in Portsmouth? I probably could go on. Those are unprecedented pressures that we continue to support our NHS to address. Douglas Ross, how can nationalist MSPs actually clap such a despicable answer? From Scotland's First Minister, in Scotland's Parliament, about Scotland's national health service. Let's ignore the nationalist MSPs. Let's look at what medical professionals are saying. They are damning about this Government's response to this crisis here in Scotland. On Monday, the First Minister placed some of the blame for the grave situation in A&E departments on, in her own words, unnecessary attendances. Dr Laila Peel, Deputy Chair of BMA Scotland, criticised patient blaming language saying—and those are her words—that shows a lack of understanding of the current crisis. We have analysed the figures and Dr Peel is spot on. There are fewer people in A&E now than there were in the years leading up to the Covid pandemic. The problem is not unnecessary attendances. Fewer people attended A&E in the first week of this year than they did in 2020, 2019, 2018 or 2017. Will the First Minister accept that the blame lies with her Government and not the patients? Everybody, including me—certainly not me—is blaming patients. It is the case. Let's hear the First Minister. Unnecessary visits to accident emergencies, unnecessary attendances and admissions to hospital are not in the interests of patients. That is why we are working hard to make sure that where patients can be and should be treated elsewhere that happens. Let me just take the points made by Douglas Ross in turn and let's look in detail at demand and why the figures that he has quoted are actually the case. There is absolutely no doubt that demand on our health service right now is higher than it has been for some time. If we look at calls to NHS 24 over the festive period, the highest demand in a decade, if we look at emergency calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service higher in the most recent week than the average of the four weeks before, the reason that they are not all translating into attendances at accident emergency or admissions to hospital is because of the work that NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service are doing to avoid that. The NHS 24 now provides advice and, where necessary, treatment to the vast majority of patients during the initial call that they make. Most of the calls to the Ambulance Service are treated through sea and treat, so the patients are not taken to hospital. Those who go to hospital tend to be sicker and their length of stay is longer. That is part of the reason why we have pressure on our hospitals. The waiting times in E&E, of course, are a reflection of the fact that occupancy in our hospitals is so high, which is why we are focused on speeding up discharge from hospital where appropriate. Finally, we listen carefully to engage with work with health professionals each and every single day. It would be hard for me to find the words appropriate to describe my respect for our health professionals. However, elsewhere in the UK this week, we have seen health care professionals on strike. They have not been on strike in Scotland because of the work that this health secretary has done and because of the respect that we have for our health care professionals. Douglas Ross I think that those words may come back to haunt the First Minister, but if we are judging cabinet secretaries on sector striking, I would hate to be surely unsumberable right now, I have got to say that. We have just heard it. The First Minister is doubling down on her patient-blaming language. The problem is not too many people attending E&E. The problem is this Government's handling of the NHS crisis here in Scotland. Dr Peele said that exit block is the problem in E&E. The Government has known this has been a huge issue for years. The First Minister was defending her position in the last answer by saying that people are getting sicker, but people healthy and ready to go home cannot get out of hospital because the First Minister and her Government have not dealt with bed blocking. They were failing to tackle this before the Covid pandemic and now it is worse than ever. New reports today state that the number of avoidable deaths is now 60 people a week in Scotland. That is 60 families across our country, grieving every single week the loss of a loved one who could have been saved. Will you confirm those tragic figures? What I will absolutely confirm is that when people wait too long for treatment, that has severe consequences potentially for patients. That is why we work so hard and will continue to work so hard with the health service to reduce long waits for treatment, whether that is an accident emergency or whether it is for elective care on our national health service. I was not to use Douglas Ross's phrase, doubling down on anything. I certainly, for the avoidance of any doubt, am not blaming patients for anything. It is in the interests of patients to make sure that, where appropriate, they can be treated outside of hospital because it is not in the interests of any patient to end up in an accident emergency unit or in a hospital ward just because treatment is not available in the community. What I was doing was trying to, because it is obvious from his questions that Douglas Ross does not understand this, explain the flow of patients through our national health service and why we see longer waits in accident emergencies because of over occupancy in our hospital wards. Finally, on the exit block, the significant chunk of what I and the health secretary set out on Monday was about tackling delayed discharges. We understand from our daily engagement with health boards that we have seen delayed discharges reduce slightly in recent weeks, but there is much more to do. That was the reason for the interventions and the additional funding that I indicated on Monday in the health secretary set out to the chamber on Tuesday. We will continue to be focused on providing the support and making the interventions that are necessary right now to help the NHS during this period of unprecedented demand. Let me remind Douglas Ross and the chamber of unprecedented demand that has been faced not just in Scotland but all over the UK and indeed in much of the rest of the world as well. Douglas Ross. The First Minister can throw insults at me if she wants. I was quoting, well, she laughs at this, you can laugh at that First Minister if you want, but I was quoting a front-line doctor in Scotland's NHS who happens to be the deputy chair of the BMA in Scotland. But the First Minister effectively confirmed those tragic figures that we heard this morning are correct. 60 avoidable deaths every single week in Scotland's NHS confirmed by Scotland's First Minister and Scotland's health secretary is making the situation worse, not better. Here's just one example of what we're experiencing across Scotland. On Hogmanee, a family visited their 80-year-old uncle. He's had major part surgery, hip operations and often struggles to breathe. When they arrived, they discovered he'd fallen and broken his neck. The family dialed 999 seven times and it took more than 12 and a half hours for the ambulance to arrive. Seven emergency calls, 12 and a half hours for our 80-year-old who had broken their neck. His niece told us that ambulance crews were brilliant, but we are disgusted at what our uncle has been put through. This dire situation confirms yet again that this health secretary and this Government is not on top of this crisis. His failures are creating risk to lives across the country. First Minister, surely for the good of Scotland, it's time to sack Humza Yousaf. If I raised a smile in response to Douglas Ross, it was not directed at any health professional. I suppose what I was raising a smile about in very challenging circumstances where everybody right now is Douglas Ross accusing anybody else of insults. Every single day with the health secretary, we'll continue to take the actions that are necessary to support our NHS during these very difficult times. I said earlier on that I don't take anything for granted and I am not intending to sound complacent at all about this, but it's because we respect so highly those who work in the front line of our national health service that we are offering them right now a much higher pay increase for next year than any other Government anywhere else in the UK and thus far we have avoided industrial action in our national health service and we will continue to do everything we can to make sure that that continues. We are also supporting health boards to address the reasons for long waits in our national health service, whether that is waits for an ambulance or waits in accident emergency or long waits to be discharged from hospital. That's why we announced the action that we did earlier this week. There are too many patients right now waiting too long for treatment and we will continue to do everything we can to address that while we hope that the pressures caused by Covid and by flu in the main abate over the weeks to come. That should not take away from the fact and this is true in the ambulance service, it is true in our accident emergency units, it's true in our GP practices, it's true across our hospitals and other healthcare settings. The vast majority of patients in this country, even during these extremely difficult times, get excellent care on our national health service and that is down to the dedication of those who work in it and that's why they have my grateful thanks each and every single day. Yesterday Jackie Baillie and I hosted a health summit with front-line NHS staff, representative organisations and experts working across our NHS. They told us that our NHS is broken and the system is failing, that they are being asked to do the impossible and that every day this crisis puts patients' lives at risk and they were united in telling us that the cause of this crisis is not Covid, is not the flu, is not strep A and is not winter pressures. They say that this is a crisis that is 10 years in the making but the First Minister does not agree. So why does she think front-line NHS staff are wrong? I don't think that front-line NHS staff are wrong in what they say but I don't know why it took until yesterday for Anna Sarwar and Jackie Baillie to meet with health service professionals. The health secretary meets them regularly and I have engagements as well. What health service professionals say to us what I'm sure they said to Anna Sarwar yesterday is that, yes, there were pre-existing challenges in our national health service that go before Covid. We were taking action to address those, so if you look at funding in our national health service, front-line health funding has more than doubled under this Government. It's higher per head of population than it is in other parts of the UK. There are almost 30,000 more people working in our national health service today than when this Government took office. More healthcare professionals, whether that's doctors, qualified nurses or across a range of different professional groups than there are per head of population in other parts of the UK. We will continue to work with front-line healthcare professionals to deal with those challenges. What I take issue with Anna Sarwar on is that somehow it is not the case that Covid and flu is having a very significant impact on those pressures. There are right now over 1,200 patients with Covid in our hospitals. Anybody who says that is not having an impact on what we're dealing with right now frankly is not dealing in reality. In the couple of weeks I think leading up to Christmas or over the Christmas period there were 1,000 patients a week with flu admitted to our hospitals. Anybody who says that is not a significant factor in what we're dealing with right now is frankly not dealing in reality. That's a comment directed at Anna Sarwar, not at healthcare professionals who are dealing with these issues each and every day. So whether it's on NHS pay, whether it's on record staffing numbers, we will continue to support the NHS during these difficult times as we always have done. Anna Sarwar. I think it's pretty clear from that answer who's not dealing with reality and it's Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP Government. She might not want to listen to me but she should listen to the organisations, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of General Practitioners, Glasgow Local Medical Committee, the British Medical Association in Scotland, Unison GMB Unite, all saying they've heard the excuses before, they don't believe it and they think that the First Minister is not doing enough because the sticky plaster approach will not solve the problem. We heard directly from staff about the impact that this crisis is having on them. They told us in their words that this is causing them moral injury. That is personal distress and trauma because they can't provide the care they know their patients need, psychological and mental trauma for our NHS staff. One of them said that the conditions that we're working in meant no dignity, no respect, no safety for patients. The BMA and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine have both said in stark terms that this crisis is leading to avoidable deaths and they predict that that could be as many as 60 avoidable deaths a week. The experts tell us that what was announced this week will not be enough to address the problem. So why can't the First Minister see that her sticky plaster approach is not working? First Minister, we'll continue to take a range of actions. What we announced this week was, in addition to the actions already being taken and of course the record investment that we are putting into our national health service in the next financial year supported by the tax decisions we are taking, asking those who can most afford it to pay a bit more in tax. We'll see an additional billion pounds going into our national health service, so we will support investment and where it is appropriate and in the interests of patients, we will support reform in care and patient pathways within our national health service. Nothing Anna Sarwar has said to me today hasn't already been said directly to government by healthcare professionals because we engage day in and day out with them. They are dealing with unprecedented pressures right now. Some of that does necessitate longer-term reform in our national health service but some of that is absolutely being caused by the winter pressures that have been at their peak in recent weeks. I would hope that, over the coming weeks and very soon, we will start to see flu levels reduce significantly, for example, and that will start to reduce some of that pressure on our hospitals. The situation with Covid remains more unpredictable and volatile, given new variants that are circulating. I hope that we will see some of that pressure abate but that will still leave a challenging situation in our health service, which is why the investment, the increase in staffing and the reforms continue to be so important. No government anywhere has a single solution to this right now but this government remains focused on taking the actions that are necessary, which is why I think that we do continue to have the trust of the people of Scotland as we do so. Anna Sarwar The First Minister is just not listening and the approach is not working. This is not just a crisis in winter, this is a crisis that is all year round and Nicola Sturgeon's excuses will not wash. The crisis in our NHS is not because of Covid, it is not because of the flu, it is not because of the strep A, it is not because of winter pressures, this is a crisis 15 years in the making. The result is the longest ever NHS waiting list, 750,000 Scots waiting, the worst ever A&E waiting times, 2,000 people a week waiting more than 12 hours, record levels of delayed discharge, 58,501 NHS bed days lost a month as a result, after 15 years of the SNP our NHS is broken and the system is failing. Staff are being asked to do the impossible and patients are being asked to accept the unacceptable. Lives are being lost, isn't it the case that the people that caused the problem can't be the ones to fix the problem? First Minister, on the latter point that is of course always up to the people of Scotland who they trust to be in government to lead the country through challenges. Of course there were challenges in our health service before Covid, I have never sought to suggest otherwise and the actions we were taking around investment, staffing, reforms to patient pathways are designed to address that. There are record numbers of staff in our health service right now, almost 30,000 more than when this Government took office and of course more staff per head of population than anywhere else in the UK. That is the reality. I think that people watching at home listening to Anas Sarwar, around one in 25 of the Scottish population that have Covid right now, the many people watching at home who will be suffering from flu and other respiratory illnesses right now, to hear Anas Sarwar say that the fact that we've got 1200 Covid patients in our hospitals right now or that a thousand patients with flu have been admitted a week in recent times to our hospitals, to hear Anas Sarwar say that that has got nothing to do with the pressures on our NHS, we'll wonder what on earth Anas Sarwar is talking about. So we will continue to work with, listen to those on the front line of our national health service as we continue to strive to give them fair pay increases and as we continue to support them to deliver excellent care, as even during these tough times they continue to do for the vast majority of patients across our country. Question number three, Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Do you ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet? First Minister, Tuesday. Alex Cole-Hamilton. I'm very grateful for that reply my opposition colleagues are quite right to raise the crisis in our NHS and Liberal Democrat research has quantified just how bad things are. Last year we discovered that one in six people who couldn't get a GP appointment actually carried out a medical procedure on themselves or got somebody else to do it. Presiding Officer, Maria is 22 years old. She is a Ukrainian refugee who has been living in Scotland since the summer. She suffers from a hormonal thyroid condition which requires regular testing and treatment but when she presented to her new GP she was faced with an unexpected dilemma. The wait was so long that it actually made more sense for her to risk travelling back to a war zone to see her doctor in Kiev and so she did. Presiding Officer, the air raid sirens, the drone strikes and cruise missile attacks of the Ukrainian capital were less daunting to Maria than the wait for treatment in Scotland's NHS. That is appalling. These are the risks that people are taking for the sake of their own health and all for the want of basic access to primary care. So can I ask the First Minister, is she embarrassed by this? I don't know the circumstances beyond what Alex Cole-Hamilton has narrated of that case and it would be wrong for me to comment on an individual case. What I do know is that we again continue to support general practice. There are more GPs per head of population in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, 83 GPs per 100,000 population here compared to 63 in England, 63 in Wales, 75 in Northern Ireland. We of course have a target that we are right now working towards delivery of increased numbers of GPs. We have recruited more than 3,000 members of the wider multidisciplinary teams in general practice and primary care. Access to GPs like access to other parts of the health service right now are challenging and very challenging for some patients and we continue to work to address that. We will continue to do that with record investment, record support for recruitment and in partnership with those working so hard across our health service. To ask the First Minister what the implications for Scotland and the Scottish Government are following Met Office reports that temperatures in Scotland and the UK reached the highest on record in 2022. The Met Office figures underline that we are already experiencing climate change impacts in Scotland. We must adapt to those changes and prepare for further impacts of global climate change, which are already locked in. We are currently preparing the third climate change adaptation programme for publication next year to succeed the current programme. Those programmes respond to the UK climate change risk assessments, which present the best available evidence in climate projections from organisations across the UK, including of course the Met Office. The climate change committee has urged that risks from higher temperatures be prioritised in the upcoming programme, and we are working across government and with public bodies to ensure that we improve preparedness for a projected increase in hotter years in the future. Those figures are indeed alarming. Across the world... We will have a brief suspension. Thank you, members. We will resume, and I call Fiona Hyslop. So, those record temperature figures are indeed alarming. Across the world, we are seeing more extreme weather experiences with increased flooding and extreme heat at home. And every government bears acute responsibilities to tackle this climate emergency. With the draft Scottish Government energy strategy published this week and the climate change committee's critical report published in December, does the First Minister acknowledge that this Government now needs to accelerate actual delivery on housing and transport emission reductions and adjust transition to renewable energy? Will she ensure that the Government's budget is sufficient and that public bodies ramp up on delivery as on current trends we won't be meeting our ambitious net zero targets? I absolutely agree with Fiona Hyslop on all of that. It is worth pointing out, of course, that the energy strategy published this week with the just transition vision alongside that was in part about how we accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels in a fair and just manner to renewable and low-carbon sources of energy. I think that that is really important. We must remain focused 100 per cent on delivering our policy programme across the whole of society. That includes transport and the heating of homes. We have to decarbonise the energy system, as I've just said, and the draft energy strategy goes into detail about how we do that. We must make sure that the climate change plan reflects all of that. A draft of that will be published later this year alongside sectoral just transition plans setting out a clear path for emissions reductions. We need to make sure that the investment is in place to back all of that up. The Government remains focused on that. We often talk about it in terms of a challenge. Much of it is challenging, but in all of that there are massive opportunities for Scotland that we must see. Maurice Golden Thank you, Presiding Officer. By 2050, they could be well over 100 heat-related deaths a year according to the UK Climate Change Committee. Adapting buildings for cooling will be key to avoiding a worst case scenario. I welcome the joint work with the UK Government on that. Can the First Minister confirm when an assessment will be ready of the cooling systems required for current housing stock? On the question of when an assessment will be ready, I will come back to the member with a precise answer on that. I absolutely agree with him that this is an important strand of work, how we decarbonise heat in our buildings and the cooling of buildings is incredibly important as a part of the overall delivery of our climate change objectives. We will continue to work where necessary in partnership with the UK Government, because some of the levers and powers lie with the UK Government. I will be seeing the Prime Minister later this evening, and I am sure that one of many issues that we touch upon will be one of many. Those are all important. I am sure that we will debate all of those issues, the detail of them robustly in this chamber, but I also hope that there will be a lot that unites us as we live up to the responsibility on our shoulders to help combat the climate emergency. To ask the First Minister for what reason two ferries that will serve Islay are being built in Turkey. In line with relevant procurement legislation, the ferries currently being built for service on the Islay routes were awarded following a full and open tendering process led by SEMA, which of course is the procuring authority. The bid received from the shard represented the best value for money in terms of quality and price. The climate change committee's report last month was not just critical. It was devastating in exposing this Government's failures on the environment and emissions. Is the First Minister comfortable that the steel for the two ferries is coming not from a Scottish steel mill—there is one around 40 miles from here, for example—but rather from China, the world's largest polluter whose steel sector is the second-largest contributor to its emissions? First, on the procurement decisions over recent weeks, the leader of the member's party has questioned me in this chamber rightly so and seemed to suggest that somehow we hadn't followed proper procurement policies in the award of other ferry contracts. It's really important to stress that, in all those matters, we comply with relevant procurement legislation. In terms of the steel, of course that is a matter for the company that has the contract. The contract awarded as a standard international shipbuilding contract and, as such, the decision regarding materials and equipment lies with the shipyard. However, I understand that the shipyard may originally have intended to source steel from Ukraine, but I have had to look elsewhere. Those are decisions that the shipyard will take, and I am sure that they will apply all necessary objectives to the decisions that they reach. Those two new ferries will each be able to carry up to 450 passengers in 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles, giving a combined 40 per cent increase in vehicle and freight capacity on the Isle route. That represents an improvement for islanders and businesses and underlines the Scottish Government's commitment to our island communities and the ferry network. Does the First Minister share my view that questions such as the one that we have just heard reiterate the fact that the Tories are interested in politicking and not people when it comes to the ferry network? First Minister, I think that Jenny Minto on that last point is absolutely right. More importantly, I think that people the length and breadth of Scotland, including in our island communities, will draw their own conclusions from the approach that the Conservatives take to those issues. Jenny Minto, who of course represents in this Parliament a number of islands, is absolutely right that the award of these contracts is good news for islanders and island communities. That is why it is important that they are progressing well. I understand that there will be an update on steel cutting and keel laying in the coming days, so we will continue to take decisions that are in the interests of those living in our island communities such as the decisions that we are talking about right now. To ask the First Minister in light of the extension of bus fare caps in England whether the Scottish Government supports capping bus fares in Scotland for those aged between 22 and 60. The first thing to point out is that Scotland already has the most generous concessionary fare scheme in the UK. More than 2.3 million people in Scotland are eligible not for capped bus fares but for free bus travel in Scotland. We continue to develop and assess options to create a fairer and more transparent system of fares to maintain and increase affordability for those who need it. That is exactly why we are progressing the fair fares review. That review is considering cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes available on all modes, including bus, rail and ferry. The maximum cost of a single bus fare in London is £1.65. In this city in Edinburgh it is £1.85. In Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire, where Labour members have taken control over transport, it is £2. It is £2 in Cardiff and now it is £2 in every part of England for the next few months. Yet in Greater Glasgow it can be as much as £2.65 for just a two-mile journey. We really do not need a fares fare review to tell us that is not fair. It is time to capped fares at greater public control of buses and for a bit of urgency. In a cost of living crisis, why are people in Scotland paying amongst the highest bus fares in the UK? Neil Bibby am its to say in that question is people over 60 do not pay anything at all for bus travel, which I think is replicated in other parts of the UK, but in Scotland nobody under age 22 pays for bus travel either. It is not capped, it is free. 2.3 million people across our country are eligible for completely free bus travel. In terms of the question of capping costs for those who do pay, it is right that we progress any proposal like that through the fair fares review, so that we properly consider cost and availability of services and the whole range of discounts and concessionary schemes that are already available. That is exactly what we will continue to do. Let me say yet again that it is a fantastic statistic and reality. 2.3 million people in Scotland do not pay anything at all. They do not pay a single penny to travel by bus in Scotland. Thank you. We will move to general and constituency supplementaries. I call Christine Grahame. I am referencing the exchanges on the pressures on the NHS. While I understand that there are some 2 million people of access, the flu vaccine, 90 per cent or so, when they were getting their winter Covid booster, is there more that can be done for those eligible to access this? This flu is very serious indeed. Yes, uptake levels for both Covid and flu vaccines are high and that is to be welcomed, but we will continue to promote vaccine uptake for those who are eligible but have not already been vaccinated. We will, of course, think most carefully about those in the most vulnerable groups. However, if we look at older care home residents in Scotland, those are figures, I think, for the first week in January. Almost 90 per cent vaccinated, which is higher than both England and Wales, for those over 50-77 per cent are vaccinated again higher than other parts of the UK. However, we will continue to work hard to encourage everybody who is eligible for a vaccine to take up that eligibility. The First Minister is more than aware of the crisis that is facing the NHS. Last week, a whistle bore got in contact from the accident emergency department within the Victoria hospital in Kirkcaldy, expressing their concerns that patients were waiting for over nine hours to be seen and that patient examinations were being conducted in the ambulances in the hospital grounds. Staff within the department believed that a major incident criteria was met but were not allowed to call or declare it as such. Can the First Minister confirm that no political direction was given to NHS Fife or any other health board for that matter to ensure that a major incident was not called and will she agree to investigate why staff were not allowed to follow standard protocol? I said on Monday that the health secretary has confirmed this to health boards in writing this week that it is up to health boards seeking advice and guidance from government where they think that that is appropriate, but it is up to health boards to take whatever decisions they think might be appropriate to prioritise critical and life-saving care. In fact, Douglas Ross started his questioning to me today by criticising the fact that Greater Glasgow and Clyde have effectively done that by pausing non-urgent care in Glasgow. Excuse me, First Minister. Members must treat one another with courtesy and respect. I would appreciate it if there could be no interruptions at the moment. I am making the point that the action that Greater Glasgow and Clyde announced last night demonstrates that health boards have the flexibility where they think that that is necessary to take that action, and that is right and proper. The fatal accident inquiry into the tragic fire at Cameron House Hotel more than five years ago reported yesterday. I want to thank the sheriff and the Lord Advocate for their assistance in getting to this point. The report included a range of recommendations designed to prevent that from happening again. Will the First Minister give a commitment today that all recommendations will be implemented as a matter of the utmost urgency? Will she also consider whether the fire brigade requires further enforcement powers as both Cameron House and the more recent fire at the New County hotel in Perth appear to have been warned of fire risks but did nothing about them? First Minister. First, in relation to the FAI report that was published yesterday, I am also very grateful to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service for their work on this extremely important fatal accident inquiry and for publication of the report. Let me also mark my thanks again to the emergency services for their response on the night of the fire and, of course, my condolences again to those bereaved in this incident. Of course we will thoroughly consider all the sheriff's recommendations. I would expect that, yes, we will accept all the recommendations but we have to go through a process of considering them properly and we are required to respond to them in due course and we will do that. In terms of enforcement, I think that in light of Cameron House and indeed the more recent incident in Perth and my condolences go to the bereaved in that incident as well, I think that it would be right that there is a look at enforcement provisions. Under the Fire Scotland Act 2005, the fire service are appointed as the enforcing authority for fire in Scotland and is part of that. They produce all relevant enforcement procedures while applying the principles contained within the Scottish regulator's strategic code of practice. As the enforcing authority, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, work with duty holders in relevant premises to achieve compliance in fire safety through providing advice and support and where necessary, taking enforcement action. Those systems are set out very clearly but, of course, as part of our consideration of the recommendations of the sheriff, we will ensure that all appropriate aspects of this are looked at in an appropriate way. The Tory UK Government continues to show contempt for workers with their proposed anti-tread union legislation. Does the First Minister share my concern about the impact that she plans to have on the rights of people working in devolved public services? Will she join me in condemning and opposing this brazen attack on trade union rights? This is a really important issue, Presiding Officer. The UK Government, I think that it is important to make this point, already has the most anti-tread union laws in Western Europe, but this bill threatens to undermine and weaken the rights of workers even further. We strongly oppose any bill that undermines legitimate trade union activity and does not respect fair work principles. I think that, as Governments, we should be working with the public sector and with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements respecting the legitimate interests of workers, not trying to pour fuel on fires or take away workers' democratic rights. Those will be points that I make very strongly when I see the Prime Minister later this evening. Gorgie City Farm, which gives volunteering opportunities to disadvantaged young people and adults, as well as providing a wonderful green play space and learning space in one of the most urban parts of the capital, is due to close on Monday. I know that the First Minister will be aware of the incredible value that this community facility provides as she has previously visited one of Scotland's last urban farms. What emergency support could be made available to help to keep the farm going in an interim period? Will ministers also agree to meet with myself, council and local campaigners to discuss a way forward to save the farm? I have visited Gorgie farm, so I am very well aware of the excellent work that it does and its real value to the community and, I think, to Scotland as a whole. Of course, if there are any reasonable steps that the Government could take to support a way forward, we would certainly consider doing that. I will ask the relevant minister to meet with the member, the council and representatives of the farm if that would be helpful and appropriate to consider any options for the future. I will ask that that is taken forward with all due haste. Mother, in my constituency, has provided me with data showing that this year, for many courses at the University of Edinburgh, outside of very welcome widening access places, there were zero Scots admitted. For Scottish peoples from ordinary families and an average school, the doors are closed, no matter their mind or their endeavour. For 440 years, the University of Edinburgh is admitted among the best and brightest of Scotland. Walter Scott, Catherine Grainger, Stuart MacDonald, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joanna Cherry, all great minds who worked hard and gained entry to study law here in our capital city. With funding frozen for 13 years and the SNP's cap on Scottish students, the historic promise of a Scottish education is broken. After five centuries, First Minister, how has it come to this? I am actually quite gobsmacked that that question has been put in that way by a Labour member of Parliament. Let me first of all give these facts. A record number of young people secured places at university in this latest UKS cycle. A record number of 18-year-old Scots have secured a university place. Up 20 per cent since 2019, in the last year, there were exams. The data provides a really positive story for those applying from deprived areas. 18-year-old securing places from the most deprived areas have increased by 31 per cent since the 2019 cycle, and all aged acceptancies from the most deprived areas are up by 4 per cent. That is where I take issue with Michael Marra. In my earlier days as First Minister, I used to be regularly criticised for the fact that there were too few young people from deprived communities going to university. Now I appear to be being criticised for the fact that there are too many going to university. I did not come from a deprived background. I came from a working-class background. I went to a state school. When I studied law at Glasgow University, I was very much in the minority, so I think that it is really good news. Within a context of a record number of young Scots at university, I think that it is really good news that we are seeing more from the most deprived areas actually going to our universities. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The First Minister will be very aware that there are people from Tory and other Aberdeen campaigners here today. They are angry that they face losing their communities last remaining green space, Synthetix Community Park. Tory contains the most concentrated area of multiple deprivation in the north of Scotland. Losing Synthetix will be detrimental for residents' health and wellbeing and bad for wider social and environmental justice. Will the First Minister support Tory residents and others' calls to save the park for current and future generations by using powers under the Town and Country Planning Scotland Act 1997 to ensure Synthetix is not re-zoned for development? I know that there is a strong feeling on this issue. However, Aberdeen City Council has notified ministers of their intention to adopt the local development plan, and ministers will now consider that. As part of our scrutiny, we will consider previous Scottish Government recommendations and check on whether reporters' modifications have been fully translated into the modified plan. Of course, ministers will set out a decision in due course. Thank you. That concludes First Minister's questions. Point of order, Alexander Burnett. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I note the First Minister referenced live data when talking about the current delayed discharge situation. As far as I am aware, the live data is not public. The Office for Statistics Regulation has made clear that, when information is used to publicly inform Parliament, it should be published in an accessible form. If she will seek the First Minister to make a commitment to publishing that as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr Burnett. That is not a matter for the chair, but your comments are on the record. There will be a brief pause before we move on. There will be a brief suspension before we move on to members' business.