Founding principles of NHS under threat from SNP failure, Baillie says

The founding principles of the NHS are “under threat” due to SNP incompetence and failure, Scottish Labour has said.

Dame Jackie Baillie, the party’s health spokeswoman, said Scotland’s public services were at “breaking point”.

Speaking after the SNP conference got under way in Aberdeen, she said Scots were “suffering the very real consequences” of an SNP Government.

The Dumbarton MSP pointed to several media reports published since September, including a story about pregnant women in Stranraer being forced to make 90-mile journeys for basic maternity care.

Another one included Brooke Paterson, a 19-year-old footballer who was forced to spend five hours lying on a pitch in North Lanarkshire waiting for an ambulance after breaking her leg.

Separately, Peter Black, a 71-year-old grandfather with stage four cancer, was forced to wait 15 hours in Wishaw General A&E.

Dame Jackie also brought up the case of Eileen Kelly, an 80-year-old woman who the party said was “forced” to pay more than £10,000 for private treatment for painful osteoarthritis in order to avoid a wait of two-and-a-half years on the NHS.

The Labour MSP said: “Our public services are at breaking point under the SNP and the founding principles of our NHS are under threat.

“Behind every grim dataset and every shameful new record are thousands of people suffering the very real consequences of SNP failure.

“Every day Scots are paying the price of SNP incompetence – whether you are a 19-year-old footballer waiting five hours for an ambulance, a grandfather with stage four cancer forced to wait 15 hours in A&E, a grandmother forced to pay £10,000 for private healthcare to escape a life of agony, or a mother in Stranraer forced to travel for hours for maternity care.

“The truth is the SNP is standing idly by as people suffer.”

The deputy Scottish Labour leader said the UK Government had delivered a record budget settlement for Scotland with a £5.2 billion boost for Holyrood, but said “the SNP has done nothing with this money”.

She added: “The SNP is desperately out of touch – we can’t risk a third decade of this tired and incompetent government.

“This is not as good as it gets – next year’s election is about removing them from power and only Scottish Labour will be relentlessly focused on rebuilding our NHS and giving Scots the health service they deserve.”

SNP MSP Clare Haughey MSP said: “Jackie Baillie has a bare-faced cheek to talk about the founding principles of the NHS when these principles are under threat from her Labour party which is opening the door to private healthcare companies driven by profit rather than patient care.

“The SNP Scottish Government has invested record sums in NHS frontline services this year in a budget which Jackie Baillie’s party wouldn’t back.

“The results of this investment are being seen with record numbers of appointments and procedures, waiting lists coming down and GP numbers on the rise.

“But under Labour in England, NHS waiting lists have grown for a third month in a row.

“Whilst other parties continually talk down our NHS, the SNP is getting on with the job by making it easier for people to get the treatment they need when they need it.”