NHS Scotland can’t go on like this

Another Scottish budget and another dire warning from the spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, that the National Health Service in Scotland is out of control and heading for disaster. With almost one sixth of the Scottish population on a waiting list, around 10 per cent of beds occupied by people who shouldn’t be there, and daily horror stories from accident and emergency, the service is long past breaking point. Yet the NHS is gobbling up 40 per cent of the entire Scottish budget, according to Audit Scotland’s director, Stephen Boyle. With increased staffing and higher pay, the health service is simply ‘unsustainable’.

We have known this for years. Audit Scotland’s last shock report was only eight months ago. In 2022, the BMA admitted that in large parts of Scotland, the health service is simply not functioning. Last week, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary started turning patients away. This is in one of the wealthiest constituencies in Europe, the heart of the North Sea oil and gas industry.