Meeting of the Parliament 02 May 2018
Our Scottish national health service faces many challenges. I believe that it is the job of all of us in this Parliament to work to create a sustainable and financially secure NHS for Scotland.
Recent weeks have demonstrated the level of financial mismanagement in our NHS that the Scottish National Party Government has presided over. Perhaps the most obvious example has been the scandal in NHS Tayside, which brought the issue to the public’s attention in the most shocking of ways, when it was revealed that NHS Tayside had taken more than £2 million from its charitable endowment fund. Donations from the public or from bequests in wills were being used simply to help to cover the day-to-day running costs of that health board.
The current financial situation in NHS Tayside is one that Audit Scotland has, over a number of years, highlighted as “high risk”. According to Audit Scotland, NHS Tayside must make more than £205 million of savings over the next five years, and it has overspent in areas such as workforce costs, prescribing and clinical supplies.
The situation in Tayside is shocking, but that board is far from on its own. Last week, my health board of NHS Lothian revealed to the Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee that it will require £31 million just to stand still at 2017 levels. NHS boards are queuing up at the door of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to beg for financial brokerage just to be able to keep delivering the health and social care services that people across Scotland rely on.
It is worth reflecting that, when the SNP Government entered office in 2007, Audit Scotland noted that the Scottish NHS had a budget surplus of £50 million. Today it is predicted that our Scottish NHS could be overspent by more than £400 million, and it is struggling to find the cuts that it needs to bridge the current gaps. All that comes despite the Scottish Government receiving additional Barnett consequential funding from the UK Government of more than £2.45 billion.
Presiding Officer, for every MSP in this Parliament, it must often seem that every warning light is lit on NHS Scotland’s dashboard. NHS Scotland has failed to meet seven out of 10 key waiting time targets. More than a quarter of children who are waiting for mental health services are waiting too long—some for up to a year. More than one in eight cancer patients is waiting more than 62 days for urgent treatment. One in four general practices in Scotland has a vacancy. A number of GP practices have been taken over by health boards because of staff shortages. Nearly one in 10 GP surgeries in Scotland is turning away new patients. There are more than 400 vacant consultant posts and more than 2,500 vacant nursing and midwifery posts.