Private sector plugs NHS gaps
KEEPING the NHS in public hands is vital.
And it is a policy firmly embedded in mainstream political thinking.
The SNP have been among the most vocal opponents of any creep towards private sector influence.
So it is surprising how much money continues to be spent on private services – £130million in the past three years.
The figure is slowly reducing but it remains significant.
It’s not just a political point-scoring exercise by Labour to say the SNP appear hypocritical on private cash.
It shows the NHS is clearly not being adequately funded.
The private sector – or “independent” to use the Government’s preferred term – is clearly plugging the gaps in provision.
Waiting times are too long, so private providers are used.
There aren’t always enough staff to go around, so agency nurses are hired at considerable expense.
The Scottish Government love to compare their record with England’s when it suits them. In this case, NHS England spends a small fortune on private services compared with Scotland.
But in isolation, the Scottish NHS obviously needs to continue to trim their reliance on the private sector.
Not just because it might be unpalatable but because it clearly demonstrates this fundamental public service is still not getting the funds they need.
HEALTH boards have racked up more than £130million in private spending in the last three years.
Information released under a freedom of information request revealed the sums spent by Scots health officials between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
The figures do not include data from NHS Lothian and NHS Highland.
In the last year, health boards spent more than £41million on private services in a bid meet demand and reduce waiting times.
The figure was about £1million lower than in the previous year.
Scottish Labour, who requested the figures, said they underlined the pressure on short-staffed health boards.
The party’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon, said: “Health boards are already feeling the pressure because SNP ministers have failed to provide our hospitals with the right number of doctors and nurses.
“Taxpayers don’t want the health service used as a cash cow for private companies but the only way to cut this private spending is to ensure our health service has the staff it needs, with the time to deliver the care patients deserve.”
The Scottish Government said Scotland spent a far lower percentage of its health budget on private services then other parts of the UK.
They also argued spending on NHSrelated PFI projects, which were introduced by Labour, dwarved the outlay on private health services.
A spokeswoman said: “Over the last three years Scottish Government spending on health has approached almost £40billion.
“The use of the independent sector by the NHS to address short-term capacity issues represents around 0.5 per cent of this investment, which compares to 7.3 per cent in NHS England.
“For context, over this same period our NHS has had to pay about £0.75billion because of PFI and PPP contracts.”