Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Budget cutbacks fear for hospitals
NHS Tayside insiders fear the future of Perth Royal Infirmary may have to be considered as health service bosses across Scotland prepare to make multi-million-pound cuts.
The shock warning throws the scale of the crisis into sharp relief as MSPs get to grips with the SNP government’s budget for the year ahead.
It is understood that health boards are preparing to draw up drastic cost savings if the budget is approved without change.
A decision was already taken to pause work on the new national treatment centre at PRI.
Independent analysis suggests the Scottish Government’s plans for health service spending represent a real-terms cut of 0.7%.
Experts say it will mean significant cash injections from the government will be required throughout the year – over and above the £19.5 billion already committed – if the NHS is to survive.
In Tayside, it is expected the health board will have to make savings of between £60 and £80 million next year once the budget is approved by parliament.
But NHS waiting lists are already under pressure. Government-set targets are proving tough to meet and staff may struggle to see what more can be safely cut.
There are no formal plans to close entire hospitals in the region.
But a senior source at NHS Tayside said cuts on the scale expected would “force” the health board into a position where it had to look at the future of Perth Royal Infirmary and Stracathro Hospital.
The alternative could be drastically reducing elective surgery.
Built between 1912 and 1914, PRI continues to house services including a 24-hour accident and emergency department, complex elective surgical procedures and cancer care.
NHS Tayside said there are “no plans” to close Stracathro Hospital and Perth Royal Infirmary.
“We are committed to continuing to provide a wide range of health services at both hospitals,” a spokesperson said.
North East MSP Tess White, Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman, said the government has to be “honest” about budget holes left for NHS boards to fill.
“The savings have already been made in previous years, the services trimmed and the vacancies closed,” she said.
SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray
said: “The Scottish budget takes NHS Tayside’s overall funding for 2024-25 to over £951.2 million, and its resource budget has increased by 17.6% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2024-25.”