Health Secretary calls for ‘debate of openness’ on reforming Scotland’s NHS

Health Secretary Neil Gray has called for a “debate of openness” about how NHS services could be “transformed” across Scotland.

Mr Gray said action was needed as Scotland had reached a “critical point in our country’s health”.

He urged people across the country to “take personal responsibility” for their own health, saying they should “pay due attention” to matters such as nutrition, mental health and exercise.

However he stressed the Scottish Government would not abandon the principle of having an NHS that was free at the point of need.

Mr Gray insisted: “The principles of a health service for everyone, owned by the people and free at the point of delivery are sacrosanct.

“Let me be clear that any consideration of abandoning those fundamental values lies beyond a red line that we will not cross.”

But he added: “While those principles will not change, Scotland has changed. Now we live longer, medicines can do much more, technology has transformed the way we live and our lifestyles have changed.”

And while he insisted ministers were “making progress” in tackling NHS waiting lists, the Health Secretary acknowledged that both health and social care services were “hard pressed to meet service demand”.

Mr Gray added that while he had a “core vision for the direction of reform” he was also “willing to consider fresh ideas”.

Stressing that “prevention is key”, the Health Secretary told MSPs he wanted to “drive a proactive approach of early intervention and prevention”.

But he added: “I am also clear that as a nation all of us need to take personal responsibility and do what we can to mind our own health.

“Pay due attention to nutrition, our mental health, and to exercise, whatever form that may take.”

His comments came as he announced funding of £5 million for health research which he said could have a “significant impact”.

It will see the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Strathclyde, as well as Public Health Scotland each receive £1 million for new research programmes into areas of population health.

The work will include studies into improving rural healthcare, managing gestational diabetes in pregnant women and informing how unscheduled care services could better meet people’s needs.

However Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said a debate about how to reform the NHS was “long overdue”.

He added that while the Tories had published a paper setting out how they would reform the NHS in February, the SNP had been “conspicuously silent”.

Speaking about the Scottish Government, the Conservative added: “They have yet to bring a coherent vision to the table.”

He continued: “This is not just disappointing, it is a neglect of duty. Instead of stepping up to the plate…. the Scottish Government chose to bide its time.

“If the SNP spent more time and energy thinking about the NHS than its own travails, then maybe, just maybe, we could get serious about NHS reform.”

Meanwhile, Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the SNP “has not had any vision for health and social care for the last 17 years”.

She told Mr Gray that professional bodies, unions and opposition politicians had been “offering suggestions for years” on how to reform the NHS.

But she added: “Even when we do make suggestions, the SNP are incapable of implementing them properly.”

Dr Iain Kennedy, chair of the British Medical Association’s Scottish council, said doctors welcomed the debate and the “tone of building consensus”.

But warning that the “NHS is in a crisis which has been building for years”, Dr Kennedy insisted: “Today must be the start of timely discussions on expectations, capacity, sustainability and deliverable reforms.

“BMA Scotland is disappointed about the lack of clarity from the Scottish Government in today’s debate and what will feel like further delays for those facing the daily stresses and strains of working in health and social care.”