Overhaul the NHS

A few hours after Nicola Sturgeon attempted to bat aside all criticism of the SNP’S handling of the NHS (Scotland) crisis at First Minister’s Questions, Prof Derek Bell rather ruined her argument (“Operations called off as flu hits hospitals”, 13 January).

Ms Sturgeon used her answers at FMQS to all the highly legitimate questions from all the opposition parties (except her allies the Greens) to decry any attempt to show up the SNP as not up to the job, despite the mounting criticism of almost every aspect of NHS care from lack of GPS to ambulances and accident and emergency targets.

We all realise that flu can cause havoc. As a former minister for health, Ms Sturgeon should be more aware of this than most. What is unacceptable about the SNP handling of this evolving crisis is that they seem to think saying “sorry” now and then, plus praising the very overworked staff, will suffice.

The NHS needs a fundamental overhaul. This is not just an SNP problem, it is nationwide, but the SNP have chosen to attack the performances in all the other areas of Britain as an excuse to avoid accepting blame for Scotland’s deficiencies.

As the NHS (Scotland) has always been a devolved area, the SNP have had more than ten years to show they can fix it. The results so far do not make for encouraging reading. (DR) GERALD EDWARDS

Broom Road, Glasgow Miles Briggs’ article “Look to Norway to help our ailing NHS” (The Scotsman, 13 January) fails to mention that Scotland’s health and social care integration is years ahead of that in Tory England and, thanks to Westminster’s treatment of Scotland’s oil revenues, Norway has a sovereign wealth fund surplus of £800 billion whereas the United Kingdom has a national debt of £1,700 billion.

News that the British Dental Association has said England has a “second-class” dental service compared to Scotland comes on top of last year’s Nuffield Trust report “Learning from Scotland’s NHS”, which sets out the lessons that the NHS in other parts of the UK can learn from Scotland and our recent far superior NHS performance figures compared to England or Wales.

Thanks to the Scottish government, we enjoy much better public services than elsewhere in the UK yet 70 per cent of taxpayers in Scotland, including lower-ranking members of the army, will pay less tax next year than their counterparts in England.

This is due to the fact that we have an SNP government that believes in a social contract with voters through a progressive taxation system, despite having Tory cuts to its budget and very limited fiscal powers.

Together with being taken out of the single market and customs union against our will, this is more evidence that we would be better taking all our decisions here in Scotland.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh