Check against delivery

Chair, Conference
Young or old, rich or poor – the NHS plays an important part in all our lives.

Sixty years ago, Nye Bevan boasted that our National Health Service gave Britain “the moral leadership of the world.”

That moral leadership is squandered if a family sends someone they love into hospital and they are not treated in clean and safe conditions.

We have fully supported the C Diff Justice campaign for a public inquiry into the outbreak at the Vale of Leven.

And I make this promise to Michelle and the other families. We will continue to fight for them until they get the answers they want and deserve.

Every patient has the right to expect effective action to minimise the risk of healthcare associated infections.

And we know it can be done.

Under Labour the NHS in England has succeeded in reducing the number of C Diff cases by over a third.

But so far Nicola Sturgeon’s response has been complacent and piecemeal.

Conference, this is too important an issue to leave to party politics. That’s why we have worked with independent experts to put forward a comprehensive action plan to beat the superbugs. Labour’s plans won cross party support in the Scottish parliament.

And Professor Hugh Pennington has told us that implementing our plan would save thousands of lives

So the Scottish Government could and should do more.  To really drive forward the attack on Hospital Associated Infections, there must be a focused and sustained effort – not only in our hospitals but also in our care homes.

If frontline staff are to be able to lead the fight against infection, we must equip them with the facilities and technology to do so. Talking tough to our nurses and doctors is simply not enough.

It is utterly shameful that we have better handwashing facilities in our airports – and even in the Scottish Parliament – than we do in our hospitals.

Labour’s plan would see that hand washing and cleaning facilities across Scotland are revolutionised.

And I call on Nicola Sturgeon to act now and appoint an independent Commissioner to oversee the drive to eradicate infection in our hospitals.

And I say to her that if she doesn’t do this, my colleague Jackie Baillie MSP, who has worked tirelessly on this issue, will bring forward a Members Bill in Parliament to create such a post.

2009 marks the 80th anniversary of the publication of Alexander Fleming’s paper on the discovery of penicillin. One of the most significant discoveries of that generation, Fleming’s work led to a transformation in treatment.

2009 should be the start of a new and concerted crusade against HAI.
Conference

I began by quoting Nye Bevan.

The Labour Party created the NHS. We are proud of its past.  We care passionately about its future.

It embodies Labour’s fundamental principles and values.

That’s why we must defend the NHS in Scotland today. Scots deserve the best health service in the world, but they are not getting it from the SNP, despite the best efforts of our dedicated NHS workforce.

In the last decade Scotland has led the charge in improving public health in the UK. Our ban on smoking in public places was quickly adopted by our neighbours as we signalled our intent to tackle the big issues facing Scotland.

Our ambitious agenda and fierce commitment were matched by unprecedented investment.
Yet this work is gradually being undone.

In England, health spending is rising year on year. Here, the SNP has given the NHS its worst financial settlement since devolution.

Let’s be blunt. This year sees the anniversary of the SNP’s shameful decision to bring down the last Labour Government and usher Margaret Thatcher into Downing Street.

Now, we have Alex Salmond and his own Tartan Tory government in Edinburgh.

How else should we describe them when the SNP’s cuts are being felt in every part of Scotland?

Managers at NHS Highland considering options once regarded as ‘scary and untouchable’ in order to save money.

In Edinburgh, nurses have complained about potentially dangerous staffing levels due to cost cutting.  NHS Shetland has even been forced to review its cancer care services.

We’ve heard about patients waiting on trolleys in Lanarkshire, and elderly patients in Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital having to have extra blankets to keep warm because of repeated breakdowns in the heating system.  The return of bed blocking, while SNP councillors vote to close care homes in Stirling.

It’s not enough for us simply to list SNP shortcomings. We must be ready, as a party, to defend everything we have achieved across the NHS, and across Scotland.

We have to develop Labour policies which will change the future of Scotland for the better.

Policies that, not only meet the needs, but match the ambition of our local communities. Policies which will tackle the inequalities in health which are still all too evident.

Our mission must be to prevent disease and ill health wherever possible.  Promoting public health cannot be divorced from jobs, education, housing and our environment.

Healthy lifestyles start in the early years and we should build on the good work already under way on healthy eating in nurseries and schools.  And with continuing concerns about obesity and lack of exercise, children must be encouraged to participate in sport.

We have welcomed the initiative by Partick Thistle FC in giving kids free access to football matches.

Like many others here today, I was lifted over the turnstile as a child, and became a fervent supporter of my local team – Kilmarnock - a passion which, as most of you will know, remains with me today.

Our clubs and supporters’ trusts are responding with innovative, community based programmes to promote healthy living.

We should, and will, do all we can to support the thousands of volunteers who give up their valuable time to promote a range of sports in our communities.

To build this, Labour believes that children under 16 should have free access to council swimming pools.

And while the SNP promised free swimming for children in their manifesto, that’s another promise they have ditched. Only Labour run Glasgow and Inverclyde are delivering on this.

And in South Ayrshire, the SNP have backed the Tories to close Girvan pool and local activity centres.

While the SNP grandstand in our capital city, our communities are being stripped of the tools to support our children.

We must get our youngsters playing sport if we are to succeed in our ambition to make each new generation healthier than the last.

This would also be the best possible legacy for the 2014 commonwealth games.

Conference, I said earlier that the NHS embodied Labour’s values and principles.

In Housing, those traditional Labour values are never more urgent than now.

When the first Labour Government was elected in 1924, Glasgow’s John Wheatley became Minister of Health.

Wheatley's Housing Act is, to this day, considered to be the single greatest achievement of that Labour administration. Almost half a million homes were built across the Britain in a decade.

As in so many other areas, the SNP’s housing policy has not delivered.

They quickly ditched the manifesto pledge of a £2000 grant to first time buyers – but that was never more than a cynical election ploy.

Their greatest crime, in the teeth of the recession, has been to cut the grant to housing associations – causing a dramatic fall in the number of new homes being built.

Nearly £100 million of badly-needed investment and over 1,000 jobs lost – not because of the credit crunch, but because of the SNP’s incompetence.

One of those jobs belonged to the former Housing Minister, Stewart Maxwell.

But there is no point in changing the minister if the same flawed policy is being pursued.

The SNP should reverse the cut in full, and they should do it now.

We need a step change in housing policy to deliver a major expansion in the number of affordable homes built for rent.  The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations is campaigning for 10,000 affordable homes to be built in the year ahead.

Personally, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate homecoming. And here is why. Because a strategy for homes is also a strategy for jobs.

And in these tough economic times we should never abandon families facing the trauma of having their homes repossessed.

While the Prime Minister acted to impose a new duty on the Courts and lenders to make repossession a last resort, the SNP government sat on its hands.
 
Well, Labour will stand up for Scottish families even if the SNP won’t.

Conclusion:

Conference, we are shaped by our history and driven by our values. It will be our response to the challenges of the day and our ambition for the future which will define us.

While we may no longer be in Government in Scotland, on keeping people in their homes, Scottish Labour will continue to lead

In the face of SNP complacency on Healthcare Associated Infections, Scottish Labour will continue to act.

While the SNP cuts hit our communities, Scottish Labour will promote an ambitious vision for Scottish sport.

As a party it is our duty, not simply to build on the foundations of Labour’s National Health Service and continue to invest.

It is our duty to match the ambition which brought it into being.
And it will be the Labour Party, driven by our values, history and ambition, that will work to create a fairer, healthier Scotland.