MSP Edward Mountain: 'Being told you have cancer on a telephone in your parliamentary office sucks' as warns that NHS teams are overstretched and under-resourced
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“Being told you have cancer on a telephone in your parliamentary office sucks, as does waiting 10 days for a follow up appointment,” said MSP Edward Mountain.
The Highlands and Islands MSP spoke about his personal experience of facing cancer showed him how overstretched and under-resourced NHS teams are.
He warned that pressures on staff are pushing them to breaking point and the personal approach to patient care is at risk of being sacrificed.
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Mr Mountain slammed the health secretary Humza Yousaf for failing to provide NHS staff the resources they need, meaning the health service is facing a crisis this winter.
Speaking during the debate on supporting the NHS in Winter he paid tribute to all frontline NHS staff while also sharing his experience of battling bowel cancer.
“Last year my personal contact with the NHS allowed me to see how hard they work,” he said. “But what is also clear to me is that our frontline staff do not have the resources they need.
“That means that there are too many patients that struggle to get seen, to get diagnosed, and worse still, to get prompt treatment.
“Overworked GPs often can’t see patients in person. Carrying out a diagnosis on a computer is a risky business.
“GPs need to see patients and whilst ‘Near Me’ and other online portals might work, let me tell you being told you have cancer on a telephone in your parliamentary office sucks, as does waiting 10 days for a follow up appointment.
“As the NHS comes under increased pressure and faces crisis management, there is a real danger that the first thing that is sacrificed is human care.
“It is that personal approach, that bedside manner - that patients not only need but staff so want to deliver – that suffers.
“Not providing the resources to allow staff to deliver that care is in itself a dereliction of duty, your duty, cabinet secretary.”
