McKirdy’s warning for Scotland’s NHS service - Ian Murray

These are just some of the deeply dismaying findings of the McKirdy report, published this week, which has warned that ‘more of the same will not be enough’ if we want Scotland’s NHS to survive into the second half of this century.

Based on Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS in England last year, the report is a root and branch review into the state of Scotland’s health service. Its judgement is stark, but unsurprising: despite the world-class workforce, the experience for patients and staff alike ‘is one of delay, fragmentation and strain.’

It’s a damning indictment on the SNP’s record on health over the last 18 years. Since 2007, an astonishing 130 major health strategies have been published. That’s one every seven weeks. Alongside a failing first minister who was taking personal control of the NHS.

While the SNP have been churning out an endless stream of meaningless policy announcements, waiting lists have soared and those with savings are going private to escape a life of pain and misery: private admissions have risen by 55 per cent since 2019/20.

Meanwhile, NHS staff are about 50 per cent more likely than the rest of the population to have chronic stress, linked to high workload and staff shortages. No wonder many are leaving the workforce altogether.

And it cannot be dismissed as simply a consequence of the pandemic. Rather, the report says that Covid-19 revealed the existing weaknesses and problems in the Scottish NHS.

I see these pressures reflected in my constituency mailbag every day. For years, I’ve campaigned to improve GP provision in south Edinburgh and pushed for clearer plans to expand capacity as our population grows.

Recently, I met with NHS Lothian’s Primary Care team again to discuss the frustrations felt by many about practice closures, difficulties registering with a practice, waiting times for appointments and capacity issues, especially in Gilmerton.

There are some welcome developments which are worth mentioning, including a major new GP facility at the new Liberton High School campus. But while this is positive, it will not on its own resolve the pressures many continue to face. That’s why I’m continuing to call for a new GP practice in the Gilmerton area to keep up with local demand.

Compare all of this to the Labour-run NHS in England, where waiting lists have fallen by hundreds of thousands since July last year, with the lowest number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment in three years and 5 million more appointments There, the health secretary actually has a plan to boost productivity and fix the underlying issues facing the health service.

If only we could say the same for Scotland. Here, John Swinney and the SNP have yet again started talking about independence. With the SNP, Scottish politics is frozen in time, relitigating the independence debate while out there in the real world our public services decline. Scotland’s NHS needs ‘a fundamental new approach’, warns the McKirdy report. Next year Scots can deliver it by electing a Scottish Labour government.