Labour call for answers on cross-border NHS referrals in an independent Scotland

Scottish Labour have called for reassurance from the SNP that patients will still receive cross-border healthcare, should Scotland become independent.

The party says around £50 million has been spent on sending nearly 3,000 people south of the border for medical treatment in the last five years.

Last year 535 people travelled to England for treatment.

Patients from Scotland have received treatments such as transplants, gender reassignment surgery and specialist cancer treatment.

Now Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie has said the cross-border referrals are “testament” to working together as part of the United Kingdom.

She said: “With the SNP pressing on with their separatist agenda, we need answers from Nicola Sturgeon over how these people would receive the treatment they need with a hard border at Gretna.

“Increasingly specialist procedures require co-operation between the NHS in Scotland and the NHS in England. Getting that vital support is essential to secure the best possible outcomes for patients.

“We can’t have people missing out on vital medical treatment because of the SNP’s fixation with separating our country and their failure to strengthen our NHS.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Various kinds of specialist procedures have always been delivered on a collaborative basis across the UK – for example, for transplantation it is in the best interests of patients to ensure that organs have the best match to recipients.

“If Scotland was to become independent, this would continue to be the case in much the same way that the Health Service Executive of the Republic of Ireland cooperates with the UK on transplants and other specialist medical procedures.

“This mirrors the experience in other parts of Europe where groups of countries work collaboratively across borders to achieve the best outcomes for their patients.”