Speech from the Chairman of Scottish Council, Dr John Garner
Thursday 3 July 2003
It’s been another busy year for the BMA in Scotland, and I’d like to start by thanking those staff who have worked so hard to support the profession north of the Border.
Helen Reilly and Mairi McKenzie who have worked diligently, effectively and with great patience to keep me and the Scottish Council on track.
Gail Grant and Beatrice Kennedy have ensured lots of good coverage in press, TV and parliament for the BMA.
Bill O’Neill and Donald Harley whose consummate skills have delivered much for members.
We are grateful to you all.
The first four years of our Scottish Parliament introduced some vital health-related legislation, legislation that is still not introduced in Westminster. The Adults with Incapacity Act, designed to protect the most vulnerable people in our society, was introduced last year. While supporting the principles of the Act, we anticipated serious problems with implementation, which sadly were realised. We are now working with the Law Society of Scotland and others to rectify the situation.
Free care of the elderly, ensuring those who need it have access to care in their final years without excess financial burden. This has so far helped more than 75,000 elderly people in Scotland.
And finally, much needed mental health legislation, which has, at its core, the best interests of the patient, will be implemented gradually over the next few years. While not without controversy, our legislation, unlike that in England and Wales was drafted for the benefit of patients and not driven by a home office agenda on public safety. We are doctors not police.
As we enter a second term for the Scottish Parliament, we have seen the upsurge of the smaller parties. The Greens, the Scottish Socialists and independents have enough seats to have a significant voice in the running of our country. Retired GP, Dr Jean Turner, did a Kidderminster by winning what was a safe Labour seat on a campaign based on saving local hospital services.
While devolution has provided us with these opportunities, united with our three neighbours, we can also make a difference in health.
Nearly two weeks ago, GPs across the UK were united in the overwhelming acceptance of the new GP contract. The result, nearly 80 per cent in favour reflected the views of the profession in Scotland, although no separate count was made.
Two significant pieces of legislation must now go through the Parliament in the next session. The Primary Medical Services Bill and the NHS Reform Bill. The former will provide the mechanisms required to implement the new GP contract. The latter will abolish Trusts in Scotland, something the BMA has been advising for some years now. But will this new legislation help turn our health service around? Despite previous reforms we still have tens of thousands of patients waiting for care in our hospitals. We still do not have enough doctors to run the service, and we still have Trusts that continue to run their finances into the red each year, despite huge increases in funding.
But can devolution continue to deliver where it counts? Consultant contract talks have followed a very different route to that of the GPs. After a yes vote to the framework document, consultants in Scotland entered into detailed talks with the Scottish Executive. These talks broke down last week. We have achieved justice for our frail elderly, for those without full capacity, for those suffering from mental illness, now it is time to achieve justice for consultants. Telling us we must accept a consultant contract that we feel and senior legal advisers confirm is discriminatory is unacceptable. We call on Malcolm Chisholm and the Scottish Executive to rethink, reconsider and give justice to Scottish consultants.
We realise that they will need to sever that umbilical cord to those anonymous civil servants in Whitehall and to cut the puppet masters strings from number 10. But if devolution of health is to work in Scotland then we need to come to agreements that are fair for consultants and fair for the people of Scotland. We will continue to fight for a Scottish solution even if our politicians will not fight against the English Health Department on behalf of Scotland and its people.
Chairman I move.
Audio clip - part one
Audio clip - part two
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