Australia punctures SNP ‘spin’ about NHS crisis

Scottish doctor who moved Down Under says ‘Covid was hard for a couple of years, but we are now back to normal’

The SNP’S list of excuses for the parlous state of the NHS is headed by the Covid pandemic and Westminster. The health service has a “recovery plan” to deal with the former which doesn’t seem to be achieving much progress, while the latter is routinely blamed for a lack of funds – despite taxes being at a record high – and used as a convenient comparator on occasions when things are worse south of the Border.

However, there are other countries that we can compare with Scotland and indeed the UK. And, thankfully, there are healthcare staff who can give a first-hand account of the differences – people like Dr Michael Mrozinski, from Glasgow, who left the NHS in 2016 to work in Australia.

Blaming the pandemic for the NHS’S woes, he told the BBC, was “just spin from the government”. And he added: “In Australia, Covid was hard for a couple of years, but we have a good workforce and a lookedafter workforce, and we are now completely back to normal.

“I would be careful with people saying ‘aye, we’ve been through a pandemic, it’s hard and it’s taken its toll’, because this workforce issue has been going on for a long while.”

What is it about Australia that enables their healthcare staff to feel “looked-after”, in stark contrast to our own demoralised, burnt-out doctors and nurses? How have they managed to return “completely back to normal”? These are questions that both our governments should be trying to answer.

If they continue to fail to hold themselves to the highest standards, then NHS staff will increasingly look for a better life overseas.

If we don’t value some of the besttrained healthcare workers in the world, there are plenty of other countries, like Australia, that will. If Scotland and the UK fail to compete in what is a global recruitment marketplace, the NHS will be in even more serious trouble.

We simply cannot let our bickering elected leaders get away with lame excuses and childish finger-pointing or these small-minded, parochial partners in mediocrity will lead the country to ruin.