Massive increase in Scottish patients being sent elsewhere

The number of Scottish patients being sent to other parts of the UK for specialist treatment has risen by almost 50% over the past four years, according to figures from health boards.

The NHS National Services Division (NSD) approved funding for 625 referrals outside Scotland in 2016-17, up from 427 in 2013-14.

Over the past four years the total cost of referrals reached £51.7m, rising from £11.9m in 2013-14 to £15.2m in 2016-17.

The NSD funds access for Scottish patients to highly specialist services south of the border, with access ensured through a service agreement.

However, the Liberal Democrats have called for ministers to explain why there has been such a significant rise in recent years.

The party’s health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “It’s important that patients in Scotland have access to the best possible care.

“If there is expertise elsewhere in the UK that they can benefit from then it is right that they can do so.

“However, we need to know whether the significant rise in patients being sent outside Scotland is a consequence of SNP ministers’ failures.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Spending on this very specialist care represents just 0.1% of the record £47.4 billion investment in the NHS over the last four years and a tiny proportion of the total number of procedures carried out in the NHS.

“As complexity of healthcare increases and costs rise, it is right that very specialised care for procedures is occasionally provided at specialist centres outwith Scotland to allow patients to be treated in quality settings.”