Battle to cut delays costs NHS £200m
NHS bosses spent nearly £200million on agency staff and private treatment in an attempt to meet waiting times targets last year.
Public spending watchdogs yesterday published a damning report into the NHS which warned of a service in crisis due to cash constraints.
According to Audit Scotland more than £80million was spent on private treatment last year, a rise of 32 per cent.
More than £6million went on agency nurses to cover shortages while more than £100million was spent on bank nursing staff.
Despite this, several health boards still missed waiting times targets. Now the watchdog says NHS boards must make detailed financial plans for the future as budgets are slashed again.
Critics said patients would pay the price for the SNP’s ‘sticking plaster’ approach to the NHS.
The report warns NHS boards are having to balance the books every year without making detailed plans for the future, forcing millions to be spent on short-term solutions.
Although health boards met financial targets, they have to make further savings of 22 per cent next year, which will leave the NHS in severe difficulties.
Auditor General Caroline Gardner said: ‘ The health service needs to increase its focus on longer-term financial planning so that it is prepared for the challenges it faces.’
‘ While budgets are getting tighter, demand for healthcare is rising due to an ageing population, more people with long-term conditions and the impact of factors such as increasing rates of obesity. This presents significant challenges for the NHS boards.’
The Scottish Government has been accused of making swingeing cuts to frontline services, leading to staff shortages which are blamed for a huge strain on hospital A&E departments.
There are now fewer nurses and midwives than in summer 2007, shortly after the SNP came
‘A sticking plaster approach’
to power. NHS sickness rates have risen, with a record 4.8 per cent of staff absent each day.
Student nurse places have been cut in the past two years and the number of trainee and junior doctors is also falling.
Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: ‘ This report paints a picture of an NHS that is doing its best whilst creaking at the seams.
‘Health boards are scrabbling around trying to find new ways to make savings while trying to keep up with demand for health services and meet myriad different Government targets.’
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: ‘The Scottish Government has slashed nursing numbers so drastically that millions have had to be spent on expensive bank and agency workers.’
Scottish Labour health spokesman Neil Findlay said: ‘Despite SNP promises to reduce the reliance on private sector healthcare, it has actually gone up as health boards desperately try to deal with waiting time targets and increased demand.
‘ This is a sticking plaster approach and won’t solve capacity problems.’
But Health Secretary Alex Neil said: ‘We are committed to protecting spending on health and our latest £11.8billion resource budget r ef l ects a f unding increase in real terms for every health board across Scotland for both 2014-15 and 2015-16.
‘Despite increasing budgets, it is right that the NHS is as efficient as possible with taxpayers’ money, which is why we have asked boards to make savings.’