Politicians cannot afford to rule out NHS reform
With seven in ten believing system is worse than a decade ago, there is public appetite for help from private sector
Evidence of the strain under which Scotland’s NHS is buckling has become depressingly familiar, with waiting times stubbornly high and recruitment challenges across the board.
Today’s news that the overwhelming majority of Scots believe the NHS must be reformed - and that half think private providers should play a bigger role - reflects the frustration most people feel with the state of the service.
Polling for the think tank Enlighten has found 71 per cent believe the NHS in Scotland is worse now than it was ten years ago and 66 per cent believe the current model is “no longer sustainable”.
Asked whether the private sector should “play a bigger role in delivering NHS services”, 50 per cent of respondents agreed and just 22 per cent did not.
The SNP has presided over Scotland’s NHS since coming to power more than 18 years ago.
Party leader and First Minister John Swinney announced to delegates at the SNP conference earlier this month measures he hopes will address the “8am rush” most patients now endure if they hope to secure a GP appointment.
Mr Swinney said a “nationwide network of walk-in GP services”, open seven days a week from noon to 8pm in high streets, near schools and workplaces, would ease pressures on the creaking system.
But questions remain over where the extra GPs required to staff these walk-in centres will come from.
For decades, politicians have opted to spend ever more public money on the service in the belief that this is what voters demand.
But in England, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said a sharp rise this year in the number of NHS appointments, tests and operations delivered by private hospitals and clinics is tackling a “two-tier” system by cutting waiting times.
Today’s poll clearly indicates there is an appetite for some sort of similar intervention north of the Border.
Politicians have come to believe the political risk of NHS reform is too high. But the political risk of failing to carry out reform may be higher still.
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