Doctors Call For 'Honesty' Over NHS Issues

MSPs must be 'honest and realistic' about problems facing the NHS.

That is the call from Scottish doctors - they have launched a manifesto setting out they issues they want parties to highlight in their Holyrood election campaigns.

Among them are chronic underfunding of health services, and massive GP shortages affecting surgeries across Scotland. A medical centre in Methil has been taken over by NHS Fife after it failed to recruit enough doctors.

Chair of BMA Scotland Dr Peter Bennie said: "This is a critical juncture for the NHS in Scotland and it is vital that there is an open and honest debate about its future direction at the coming election.

"People are living longer lives, but with that more and more people are living with chronic illnesses and often have complex care needs.

"The pace with which demand on the NHS is increasing is outstripping resources and making the current way we deliver health services unsustainable. To close the gap there needs to be significantly increased investment. Any party which cannot commit to closing the funding gap needs to be honest with voters and set out what range and models of health services it plans to provide using currently planned resources.

"If politicians spend the next six months simply blaming each other for the challenges the NHS faces then they will be letting down the public and failing to live up to their responsibilities.

"It is essential that politicians of all parties recognise the pressures the NHS is under and set out realistic and honest plans for how they will address these issues."

Responding to the launch, Scottish Labour Public Services Spokesperson and Fife MSP Dr Richard Simpson said: "Our NHS is Scotland’s most valued public service. Now more than ever we need a health service based on clinical need not the ability to pay, and we need the staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for others to have the support and the resources they need.
 
"Next year’s elections are key moment in the history of our health service. We need an NHS fit for the 2040s, not the 1940s 

"Under the SNP our NHS has seen a cut to funding and an ever-increasing strain on resources. A crisis in family doctors has erupted on the SNP’s watch. We have seen a drop in funding totaling over £1 billion, fewer medical students, fewer trainee vacancies being filled and now fewer out of hours sessions being staffed."