BMA not happy at ‘empty words’ over NHS

The welfare of NHS staff must be a priority after the Holyrood election and politicians’ praise for frontline workers will be “empty words” without improvements to the health service, the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland has said.

The doctors’ union has issued a manifesto that also calls for a “national conversation” about the long-term future of the NHS in Scotland, and demands the “obsession with blanket and arbitrary targets” be scrapped in favour of a focus on patient outcomes.

BMA Scotland chairman Lewis Morrison said the NHS’S recovery from the pandemic “must be synonymous with staff recovery”, as he warned that doctors’ opinions of politicians “are at a very low ebb”.

He cited a BMA Scotland survey of 991 doctors that found almost two-thirds (65%) do not feel politicians value them, while 46% believe the Scottish Government is not committed to involving the medical profession in decisions about the future of the NHS.

Demanding staff are treated better, Dr Morrison said: “For years before Covid-19, the health service in Scotland has endured under-resourcing, under-staffing and under-funding.

“As we emerge from this pandemic, we are now presented with a real chance to make a change – and show that the weekly claps and fulsome tributes really did mean something.”

The manifesto also calls for a less politicised debate about the health service and its funding.

Dr Morrison added: “If Scotland is truly to get to grips with making the NHS sustainable, then now is the time for a national conversation about its future: what it should provide and how it should be funded.”