'Swap the spin': SNP Government slammed over £34m bill for NHS communications staff
Spending on media and communication staff within the NHS has increased year-on-year for the past half decade.
SNP ministers are being told to “swap the spin doctors for the real kind” as figures reveal health boards spent £34 million on communications staff in the past five years.
Spending on communications staff more than doubled by 126.5 per cent between 2019/20 and 2024/25. Health boards and the health directorate spent over £6.9m in the most recent full financial year alone.
The total spend on communications staff has increased year-on-year over the past five years. The total spend in 2019/20 was £3,046,769, increasing to £4,892,835 in 2020/21 and £6,057,503 in 2021/22.
This jumped to £6,725,180.82 in 2022/23, £6,846,268.18 in 2023/24 and £6,900,730.73 in 2024/25.
Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said: “At a time when our NHS is lurching from crisis to crisis, this SNP Government has allowed millions to be squandered on trying to hide its failures rather than ensuring that patients get treated.
“With nearly one in six Scots on an NHS waiting list, the SNP should get a grip and swap the spin doctors for the real kind.”
Ms Baillie said if her party wins the 2026 Holyrood election, a Labour government would “focus on delivering not hot air” by cutting waiting times and clearing the NHS backlog.
Ms Baillie added: “Scottish Labour will end the waste - that is the change Scotland needs.”
NHS Ayrshire and Arran has spent £1,778,105 on communications staff since 2019/20. The bill increased from £250,975 a year in 2019/20 to £328,939 in 2024/25.
NHS Borders spent £1,333,030, increasing from £179,578 in 2019/20 to £257,243 in 2024/25. NHS Fife spent £1,884,463, more than doubling from £216,703 in 2019/20 to £465,782 in 2024/25.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spent £3,267,916, rising from £392,742 in 2019/20 to £603,507 in 2024/25, while NHS Highlands spent £2,014,813, increasing from £296,909 in 2019/20 to £374,536 in 2024/15. These figures include the salary cost of staff who have additional duties as well as communications.
NHS Lothian spent about £1,620,449, rising from £261,752 in 2019/20 to £346,355 in 2024/25.
The spending figures were revealed with around one in nine Scots on an NHS waiting list.
Figures from Public Health Scotland found that as of March, only 61.2 per cent of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment were seen within the national target of 12 weeks. This is down from 63.1 per cent the previous year.
At the same time, more than 5,262 patients were waiting over two years to be seen. This is the highest number of waits in excess of two years ever reported.
In June, cancer waiting times rose to their worst level since records began, with nearly a third of patients with an urgent referral for suspected cancer not beginning their treatment within the 62-day target.
Analysis by Edinburgh University also predicted nearly one million people will be stuck on an NHS waiting list by 2026.
Earlier in the summer, the British Medical Association Scotland warned the NHS “is dying before our very eyes”. Chair Dr Iain Kennedy said: “It is abundantly clear that Scotland has been divided into those who can afford private healthcare and those languishing on ever longer NHS waiting lists.
“Now, I don’t believe anyone made an active choice to pursue this path towards a private health service. Rather, it is a failure to get to grips with an evolving population and its health needs. But be in no doubt, the NHS is dying before our very eyes.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Effective communication to help people understand policies and access public services, or to prompt behaviour change and promote better health, is a key part of government work.
“Communications professionals working on areas related to health and social care perform a variety of roles.
“These include managing campaigns to communicate important public health information, delivering a high-quality response service to meet round-the-clock demands of news organisations, assisting journalists and facilitating interviews that help hold ministers to account.
“Scottish Government funding of health and social care is at a record level and we are investing £21.7 billion through our 2025/26 budget.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.