Chamber and committees

I declare an interest as a practising national health service general practitioner.

Good morning, minister. Are you responsible for and in charge of the NCS, or is there somebody else in Government to whom we should be speaking?

So are you in charge of the NCS?

Okay. Given your statement to Parliament and your comments on the BBC’s “Drivetime” on 14 November, have you been entirely and wholly truthful about what occurred between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities?

The forecast cost from the Scottish Government is up to £1.3 billion over five years. How much of that will be an increase for front-line services?

Four different parliamentary committees have criticised and, in some cases, rejected the national care service plan, yet you continued to push it at a cost of £30 million, putting taxpayers, the social care workforce and those who rely on care at risk. Why did you continue to push it when all those committees were telling you that there were real issues to consider?

You touched on the amendments that were sent to the committee—I think that there were about 46 of them—and they completely changed the bill as it was originally drafted, yet we went through stage 1 and then retook evidence. You have said to us that you do not want to continue with stage 2 just yet and that you are going to take time to listen, but your letter seems to indicate that you are removing part 1 of the bill. Does that mean that we will need to start again in considering whatever proposal for the NCS the Government puts forward?

How much of that will be for an increase in front-line services?

Absolutely. You are saying that that money is for the cost of the bill and it is not going directly to front-line services.

I will touch on a couple of topics before I come to my main one. I am a practising GP, and I know that you are, too, Dr Kennedy. When patients who need palliative care have come to you, what has been your experience of that process in general?

I always find it challenging to convince patients who need it to go to a palliative care service and to have the first meeting about it, because they are scared of the process. Would that form a barrier for some patients?