We now move to decision time.

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Labour MSP Colin Smyth says his party supports partnership working if it can deliver the pay rise it is calling for.

Mr Smyth says pay restraint has clearly damaged NHS finances and morale.

The Labour MSP says many nurses are having to use food banks to feed their families.

He says no wonder nurses are being balloted for industrial action to end the pay cap and he stresses that is in Scotland too. 

Mr Smyth says it is time to vote to give the NHS a well deserved pay rise.

Labour MSP Coin Smyth says the SNP are in denial on the pay constraint on NHS recruitment.

Mr Smyth says SNP member after member had more to say about England and Wales than they did about Scotland.

He accuses Tory MSP Miles Briggs of making a bid for the Welsh Assembly, following his closing speech.

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Labour MSP Colin Smyth says parliament can show it is on the side of NHS staff at decision time by backing the Labour motion.

Mr Smyth says the best way to support and repay the NHS staff is by providing them with decent pay and conditions and adequate staffing levels,.

He says there is a recruitment crisis across the NHS and a "ticking time bomb" of GPs waiting to retire.

The Labour MSP says there are 2,500 nursing vacancies leading to an increase on the burdens of existing staff.

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Health Secretary Shona Robison says the unions like partnership working in the NHS.

Ms Robison concludes saying she will address pay and other staff concerns with the unions when she meets them in the next few weeks.

Ms Robison says the government has maintained the student nurse bursary and that there is a high level of interest in courses. 

The health secretary says she has no difficulty in members criticising the record of the government with NHS Scotland but that they must recognise that the Scottish government is outperforming other governments. 

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar intervenes to say he does recognise what Mr Robison has said and he welcomes some of the measures being taken by the Scottish government but asks why the government did not recommend a higher pay rise. 

Ms Robison says that all paths lead back to the UK Treasury and the Scottish government is constrained. 

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Health Secretary Shona Robison says Anas Sarwar and Monica Lennon gave powerful testimony of the support their families received from the NHS.

Ms Robson says her family has also received such care and she thanks them from the bottom of her heart.

The health secretary says the demands on the NHS continue to rise and in terms of vacancy levels, "yes they are too high".

She says agency spend is also too high.

Mr Briggs says a radical culture change is needed and required. 

The Tory MSP says staff shortages are wide spread and spending on agency staff has increased.

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Conservative MSP Miles Briggs says the NHS in Wales, under the Labour party, there has been no pay rise.

Mr Briggs says waiting times are at their highest in Wales and patients have to wait five weeks longer than they do in England.

The Tory MSP the impact of Labour on the Scottish NHS is still being seen.

He says it is an ongoing scandal that parking charges are as high as they are at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani says Mr Briggs should address the motion and amendments, echoing Christine Grahame earlier.

Mr Briggs goes on to say Scotland's NHS has  declined on the SNP's watch.

SNP MSP Emma Harper thanks Anas Sarwar for his opening statement on his own family and says that, as her colleague Mr Dornan noted, everyone will have had experience with the NHS.

Ms Harper, a former nurse, says that NHS staff pay is directly linked to the Tory austerity agenda. 

Labour MSP Neil Findlay intervenes to ask why the budget extends to pay increases for prison officers but not nurses.

An emotional Emma Harper says she would like to see pay increases for nurses but asks how that is possible with budget cuts from the UK government. 

Ms Harper says the government have implemented recommendations by the independent pay review. 

SNP MSP Maree Todd says the Westminster government have not passed on an increase for years and that Scotland's NHS staff are now paid more than their counterparts in England. 

Ms Todd says she does believe that NHS staff should be paid more but she wonders if that is possible with UK government austerity. 

The SNP MSP says that if the UK survey had only been completed in Scotland then there would have been different results.

"Under this constrained budget the Scottish government should be congratulated," she says. 

Labour MSP Neil Findlay says the government are clearly acting now and would never have acted if this motion was not brought forward.

He says his wife and daughter work in the NHS and their colleagues have suffered austerity under pay measures for years. 

"The system is creaking at the scenes," and this adversely impacts on women, he says. He points out the increasing reliance on agency staff.

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell asks if Mr Findlay has taken this to the Labour-run Welsh government who spend more on agency staff than the Scottish government do. 

"This is a major contributory factor to people choosing other careers," he says. 

Tory MSP Maurice Corry says the Scottish government has taken a short term view on nursing vacancies in Scotland. 

Mr Corry says every empty post puts a stress on an already stretched staff.

The Tory MSP says the use of agency nurses has increased by almost 50% in one year.

He says there will always be a need for locum staff but that they should not be relied upon. 

SNP MSP Ivan McKee says he welcomes the Labour party bringing this debate to the parliament because it gives an opportunity to highlight the different approaches of the Scottish, UK and Welsh governments.

Mr McKee says the Scottish government has stood by the agreements with the independent review body and increased nurses pay to the recommended levels.

The SNP MSP says nursing bursaries are still in place in Scotland and nursing students pay no fees. 

He says that NHS England is suffering from double the vacancy rate of that in NHS Scotland.

"Scotland is outperforming its counterparts" in the NHS, he says.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says nurses help the most vulnerable in society without thought of reward.

Mr Cole-Hamilton says we ask so much of those in healthcare with very little reward.

He says to continue on this route will pose a real threat to how health and social care is delivered. 

The Lib Dem MSP says adequate investment in the NHS workforce is vital and "the system is buckling under the weight of demand."

Mr Cole-Hamilton says A&E waiting times act "as a weather vein" to other issues within the NHS.

"There is a colossal problem of bed blocking in the NHS," he says. 

Greens MSP Alison Johstone says it is time for the pay cap to be scrapped.

Ms Johnstone says many staff are looking back on years of real term pay cuts. 

She says she will support the motion today. 

The Green MSP says nurses are undervalued and a staggering 14% have missed meals due to financial constraints.

Ms Johnstone says NHS staff really feel that unfairness when they see what is being paid to locums.

Tory MSP Brian Whittle says his daughter is a healthcare professional in the NHS.

Mr Whittle asks how NHS staff can maintain high standards under their current working conditions. 

The Tory MSP says there is a difficulty in GP recruitment across the country. 

He says "it is all very well having the rhetoric but it is action that matters". 

Mr Whittle says the GP practices that suffer the most are those in rural areas and the patients lose continuity. 

"We need to build a sustainable future for our NHS," he says. 

The health service in Scotland is "stretched pretty much to breaking point", according to a doctors' leader.

Peter Bennie, the chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland, warned that staff shortages could lead to "system breakdown".

Mr Bennie called for a major increase in funding or an "honest debate" about what services the NHS could offer.

The Scottish government said it recognised that it must "up the pace of change" in the health service.

Mr Bennie was asked about the current state of the NHS during an interview on the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland in January.

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Mr Dornan and Labour MSP Neil Findlay clash over parking charges for NHS staff and patients and traffic management.

Deputy Presiding Officer Christine Grahame tells off James Dornan and Mr Findlay as he tries to raise a point of order.

Mr Dornan riks pressing the deputy presiding offfcer to be met with a very stern: "Don't challenge me please."