“We cannot go on like this – patients and staff deserve so much better” – Labour MSP Neil Findlay
Immediate action is needed to shift the NHS towards long-term, fundamental change, according to a new report published today. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said the report should make ‘shameful reading’ for the Scottish government.In her annual review of the NHS, the Auditor General for Scotland finds that performance continued to decline in 2017/18 and the NHS is not financially sustainable in its current form. Pressure is building in several areas, including major workforce challenges, rising drug costs and a significant maintenance backlog.
In 2017/18 the health budget was £13.1 billion – 42 per cent of the total Scottish budget. Taking into account inflation, this was a 0.2 per cent decrease from 2016/17. NHS boards struggled to achieve unprecedented savings of £449.1 million, relying heavily on one-off savings.
No NHS boards were able to meet all eight key national targets and performance against these targets declined nationally. More people waited longer for outpatient and inpatient appointments. Only one of the eight key performance targets was met nationally.
The NHS also faces significant workforce challenges, with difficulties recruiting and increases in sickness absence and staff turnover. There is evidence that the NHS is struggling to recruit and retain the right people, and ensure they have the time and support they need. Boards are also considering the potential impact of EU withdrawal on areas such as staffing, the supply and cost of drugs, and food prices.
The Scottish Government wants to transform the healthcare system so that everyone can live longer, healthier lives at home or in a homely setting by 2020. Significant activity is underway to work towards this, but progress is too slow.
The Scottish Government’s recent health and social care medium-term financial framework and other measures are welcome steps, but more needs to be done. Audit Scotland will be carrying out further work to understand how this new approach will work in practice.
Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, (below) 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 that 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 and the difference they make to people’s lives. This will help to build support among the public and politicians for the changes required.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “For a government which has been in charge for more than 11 years, 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.
“More than a decade on, auditors are still having to lay out recommendation after recommendation to force the SNP government to get its act together.
“Thanks to disastrous workforce planning and the complacent attitude of ministers, the NHS in Scotland is now facing an unprecedented challenge.
“NHS boards right across the country are staring into a black hole of more than £130 million, regardless of any SNP action to eliminate current debt, and the challenges they face are only going to get more intense.
“The SNP is in sole control of health and has been for some time – it has no-one to blame but itself.”
Lothians Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: “The NHS is the most important public service we have. It helps us in our hour of need and every day performs miracles. The people who work in it go way beyond the call of duty to support patients but these same staff and the people who need NHS care are being failed.
“Today’s report by Audit Scotland, is damning, it says health spending was inadequate. It found:
- Real-terms funding of the NHS fell 0.2% last year to £13.1bn, failing to keep pace with costs and inflation.
- NHS boards had an £899m backlog in repairs that had been delayed to save money.
- Most of Scotland’s NHS boards failed to meet their eight key performance targets – NHS Lothian met none.
- Eight NHS boards have forecast total deficits of £132m by the end of this year.
- Some NHS boards had to claim £102m in emergency loans from the government to balance the books.
“All of this means people can’t get access to a GP, people are sitting for months and months on growing waiting lists and the system is creaking at the seams
“We cannot go on like this – patients and staff deserve so much better.”
NHS in Scotland 2018 – Audit Scotland report
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