SCOTS WOULD PAY MORE TAX TO SUPPORT NHS
NEARLY half of Scots believe standards in the NHS have dropped – and most are willing to pay more to fix it.
A poll released yesterday gave a snapshot of attitudes to the health service as it celebrates its 70th year.
The research showed 46 per cent think standards have become worse while a quarter think they’ve improved.
Fifty-two per cent said they’re willing to pay more tax to support the NHS, while 29 per cent are opposed to increases.
Polling expert John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said: “A relatively widespread perception that the NHS has been doing less well in recent years seems to have helped fuel a widespread acceptance that more will need to be spent in coming years.”
The poll suggested Scots want the health
service to concentrate on major treatments.
There was support for charging patients who miss appointments and a ban on tummy tucks, tattoo removals and breast implants.
The poll also found majority backing for terminally ill Scots to get the right to die. MSPs have twice voted down attempts to legislate for assisted suicide but of those surveyed, 71 per cent said they would support it.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Seventy years after its creation, the NHS continues to provide a free public service, and our NHS staff do a fantastic job every day of the year.
“There are challenges across the whole of the UK with our NHS which is facing more pressure than ever before, due to an ageing population, and rising demand. We will continue to work alongside NHS staff and to deliver real investment to continue to improve services and provide the level of care to patients that they have a right to expect.”
Scots Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said the poll gave “a real insight into the dismal view many Scots have of the SNP’s stewardship of our NHS”.
He added: “The SNP have presided over a workforce crisis in our NHS, a crisis in social care services and increasingly seem to have no vision on how to build a sustainable and preventative-focused NHS for the future.”