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You might, in the previous evidence, have heard one of the medics say that, last year, one enormous pressure related to Strep cases. He felt that the system was not easily able to quickly change its messaging for parents. Have you learned lessons from what happened last year so that things might be better if we have a similar situation in the future?

Thank you.

Very quickly, following on from Gillian Mackay’s questions, would you comment on the safe staffing legislation, the commitment to have that in place by April 2024 and how you think that that is going?

For my particular question, I highlight key points made by board chief executives about staffing. Jeff Ace from NHS Dumfries and Galloway said:

“technically, I cannot afford one in 10 of my workforce, but I clearly need all those people and more to meet the service demands that we are facing.”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 2 May 2023; c 13.]

Ralph Roberts from NHS Borders said:

“There is no doubt that what I hear most from staff is their frustration about not being able to do the job that they came to do”.—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 21 March 2023; c 25.]

Claire Burden from NHS Ayrshire and Arran said:

“There is a lot of anxiety: anxiety and stress are key drivers of staff absences, because the current climate is tough.”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 21 March 2023; c 24.]

Is it fair to say that the previous cabinet secretary did not get it right in terms of staffing—staff terms and conditions, recruitment and their place in the workplace? Do you have a plan to take that forward and do you think that you can turn around that staff recruitment and retention issue?

Thank you for that. The point—

Good morning.

My question relates to all those points. The following quote from Claire Burden, who is from my area, is important. She said that she

“inherited a deficit of £26 million”

when she entered her post, and that

“Going into 2023-24, our underlying position is deteriorating”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 21 March 2023; c 13.]

I wonder whether the cabinet secretary feels that decisions, or lack of decisions, by his predecessor are causing on-going problems for the boards. Can you demonstrate to us how you might treat some of the decisions that need to be made with some urgency? The feeling from the boards was that, although the situation was acknowledged, there was no urgency around decision making that might help in the long term.

Boards recognise that you see the difficulties, but they say that there does not always appear to be urgency about decision making on how to resolve difficulties.

I think—

It is Ayrshire.

Are you confident that you have a plan, with urgency, that will help boards even further than the provision of funding does?

Of course; I will come back to it. Thank you, cabinet secretary.