SCOTLAND’S health service is under “severe pressure” despite rising budgets amid warnings the NHS is financially unsustainable.
Despite health budgets rising every year the NHS in Scotland is in desperate need of reform, Auditor General Stephen Boyle has said.
The independent report from Audit Scotland warned improving the NHS will be “very difficult” against the continuing demands of Covid and the Scottish Government’s ambition to create a National Care Service.
READ MORE: Scotland spent LESS on Covid PPE than England during pandemic, data shows
Growing waiting lists caused by Covid-19 mean the NHS remains on an “emergency footing” and makes it harder for the Scottish Government to recruit staff.
And there are fears the health service will struggle to retain “exhausted and burnt-out” staff as the country emerges from the Covid pandemic.
There has been a 36.1% increase in the total number of people seeking diagnoses for any illness since 2019 – rising to 125,557 patients in 2021, the report found.
It also reported that most of Scotland’s 22 health boards have required extra Scottish Government funding to balance the books in 2020/21 – while six are still in special measures to ensure they save money.
They are NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Highland and NHS Orkney.
He said: “Reforming the NHS is key to the Scottish Government's pandemic recovery plan and needs to remain a priority.”
READ MORE: Unionist Covid test 'boast' branded 'SPIN' as data shows NHS tests lower in England
A key problem for the NHS is a “lack of robust and reliable data” on which they can plan – including detail on health inequality and information about social care.
Boyle added: “There's now a clear opportunity to do things differently by building on the innovation and collaboration we've seen across the NHS in the last few years.
"For that to happen, our leaders must take the public with them and involve them in the shift from care being delivered in hospitals to much closer to people's homes. But better-informed policy decisions and services won't be possible without better collection and use of data."
The total Scottish health budget in 2020/21 was £18 billion, of which around £2.9 billion was dedicated to Covid-19.
Gillian Mackay, the Scottish Greens health spokesperson said the NHS was “under more pressure than ever before”.
She added: “The Scottish Government must improve recruitment and retention to maintain safe levels of care.
“The government must focus on promoting workforce wellbeing so that we do not haemorrhage staff as we begin to recover from Covid-19.”
Jackie Baillie, Labour’s health spokesperson, called for “robust planning to get our NHS back on track”.
She accused the SNP of “mismanagement” of the NHS and called for steps to be taken to reduce waiting times.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The pandemic has put our NHS under the most severe pressure in its 73-year existence, and we welcome Audit Scotland’s acknowledgment that health and social care staff have shown extraordinary commitment.
“Staffing levels across NHS Scotland have reached a record high after an increase of over 7,600 whole time equivalent staff in the last year, and we are committing £1 billion in our NHS Scotland Recovery Plan to get more patients seen as quickly as possible and tackle the backlogs of care.
“We also welcome Audit Scotland’s recognition of the actions taken to save lives during the pandemic through the vaccination programme, continued prioritisation of cancer services and Test and Protect. The report shows we worked quickly to support staff wellbeing – introducing a range of measures backed by £12 million investment, in addition to funding the recruitment of additional staff across a variety of health and care services.
“We agree with Audit Scotland that there is a clear opportunity to do things differently and build on the innovation and collaboration shown during the pandemic. That is why our work, including steps to improve data collection, and commitment to invest 20% more – £2.5 billion – in our NHS will support recovery and reform; delivering a more sustainable health and social care system that reduces inequalities and promotes good health.”
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