The NHS is ‘dying before our eyes’, says BMA Scotland chair

The NHS is “dying before our eyes”, Dr Iain Kennedy will warn later today.  

It follows new figures revealed by BMA Scotland that show the scale of private healthcare use in Scotland. 

The research shows 29 per cent of Scots say they or someone else from their household have had to use private care in the past two years. 

The chair of Scotland’s trade union for doctors is due to speak at the BMA’s annual representative meeting later today. 

Kennedy is expected to tell delegates it is “abundantly clear” that there is now a divide in Scotland between those who can afford private healthcare and those “languishing” on NHS waiting lists. 

The survey, which was carried out by the Diffley Partnership on behalf of BMA Scotland, also found that almost two-thirds of those who have accessed private healthcare in the last two years have done so because the NHS waiting list was too long. 

While 43 per cent of respondents said their likelihood of using private healthcare had significantly or somewhat increased in the past few years. 

Kennedy is expected to say: “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.” 

He will call for four areas of reform, including shifting the balance of care into communities, a workforce plan to meet recruitment needs, a long-term focus on prevention, and a “more mature” approach to measuring the NHS. 

Kennedy is also expected to say: “The chance to save our NHS remains. If we want to provide timely care to all, which is free at the point of need, then immediate action is required. 

“We did ask the Scottish Government for a national conversation but were largely ignored.  So, instead, NHS reform must now happen.” 

He will add: “The impact of the Scottish Government repeatedly ignoring the warnings made by the BMA and many others is clear. Patients are suffering, unable to access the care they need when they need it or having to use their own hard-earned money to go private. 

“Everyone knows it is unacceptable. That’s why BMA Scotland will continue to shine a light on the dire state and worsening position of the Scottish NHS.   

“And it’s why we will go on fighting for our members, for our patients, and for a better future for Scotland’s health service.” 

Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for health, Jackie Baillie, has called the research “damning” and said the SNP government has “taken a wrecking ball to the founding principles” of the NHS. 

Reacting to the new figures, Baillie said: “John Swinney must heed these stark warnings from those on the frontline of his NHS crisis.  

“It is a scandal that so many Scots are spending their life savings or being plunged into debt to pay to get the care desperately they need.  

“The truth is if the SNP had any answers we would have seen them by now – our NHS needs a change in direction and a change in government.” 

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “We will always protect the founding principles of the NHS – publicly owned and free at the point of need.  

“That’s why we are investing a record £21.7bn in health and social care this year, including £106m to deliver over 150,000 additional appointments and procedures.  

“But we recognise some of the concerns raised by the BMA, and we are determined to deliver the reform our NHS needs to ensure it provides quality care for everyone who needs it now and into the future. 

“The first minister set out his plan to renew our health service by investing in prevention while harnessing technology to support earlier diagnosis and tailor medical treatment to individual patients.”