SCOTS NHS ON CRITICAL LIST
SNP slated after damning report demands ‘immediate action’ to improve missed targets, longer waiting times and staff shortages
SCOTLAND’S failing NHS is on the critical list and must be rescued with ‘immediate action’, a watchdog has warned.
A damning report by the Auditor General for Scotland says the health service is ‘not financially sustainable’ and under growing pressure from staff shortages and drug costs.
The annual review of the NHS found boards struggling to make savings and failing to meet waiting time targets, with more patients waiting longer for appointments and surgery.
NHS boards are also ‘struggling’ to recruit staff, while their performance is continuing to decline, the report said.
The findings have sparked fresh criticism of the Scottish Government.
Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘This should make shameful reading for the SNP. Many of the problems set out here are a consequence of the Nationalists’ despicable approach to running the NHS, and they should be embarrassed by the findings.
‘Under the mismanagement of the SNP, the health service is heading towards financial meltdown.’
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: ‘The NHS is not just
creaking at the hinges, it is on the critical list.’
Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said that ‘more than a decade of SNP complacency’ had put ‘the future of our NHS under threat’.
The NHS in Scotland 2018 report warns that the service ‘urgently needs to move away from short-term fire-fighting to long-term fundamental change’ and ‘immediate action is needed’.
Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: ‘The performance of the NHS continues to decline, while demands on the service from Scotland’s ageing population are growing.
‘The solutions lie in changing how healthcare is accessed and delivered, but progress is too slow. The scale of the challenges facing the NHS means decisive action is needed now to deliver the fundamental change that will secure the future of this vital and valued service.
‘Alongside longer-term financial planning, this must include effective leadership and much more engagement with communities about new forms of care... the challenges now presented by an ageing population mean further and faster change is essential to secure the future of the NHS in Scotland.’
The watchdog added: ‘The NHS in Scotland is not in a financially sustainable position. NHS boards are struggling to break even, relying increasingly on Scottish Government loans and one-off savings.’
The watchdog found that boards had been forced to find ‘unprecedented’ savings of £449million. The report also highlighted ‘significant workforce challenges’ with difficulties in recruitment and increases in sickness absence and staff turnover.
More than 4,300 nurses quit the NHS last year, while spending on bank and agency staff has soared.
Major financial pressures include the growing drugs bill – which reached £1.7billion in 2016-17 – and almost £900million of vital maintenance work on NHS buildings in 2017-18.
Boards are expected to finish this financial year with a financial overspend of £131million, which will be written off by the Scottish Government.
Dr Lewis Morrison, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: ‘One warning is repeated over and over again in Audit Scotland’s latest report: that the NHS is not in a financially sustainable position. This stark warning could not be any blunter, but will come as no surprise to frontline doctors who have faced the consequences of inadequate funding year after year. As the BMA and others have warned for a considerable time, funding in the NHS is simply not keeping pace with demand.’
The Scottish Government
‘Decisive action is needed now’
invested £13.1billion in NHS services last year, but Audit Scotland said that when inflation was taken into account there was a 0.2 per cent real terms drop in funding.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the Government welcomed the report and was ‘already’ taking the recommendations forward.
‘Under this Government, NHS funding has reached record levels,’ she added.
‘While our NHS faces challenges, we are implementing a new waiting times improvement plan to direct £850million of investment over the next three years.
‘Ultimately, we want to ensure people can continue to look forward to a healthier future with access to a health and social care system that continues to deliver worldclass compassionate care.’
‘Not financially sustainable’