SNP warned NHS 'entrenched in two-tier system' by Labour-backed report

Claims have been made that a surge in patients seeking private medical support has created a two-tier health service in Scotland.

Scottish Labour will launch a flagship independent report warning the NHS in Scotland risks “entrenching a two tier system where access depends increasingly on ability to pay rather than clinical need”.

The report, drawn up by former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Mike McKirdy, will set out in detail the scale of the challenges facing Scotland’s NHS and will expose long-term failures to modernise our NHS.

A new report will set out issues facing the NHS in Scotland

The document will warn that the founding principles of the NHS “are becoming strained and frayed” and current trends risk “entrenching a two tier system where access depends increasingly on ability to pay rather than clinical need”.

The report will find that since 2007, more than 130 major health strategies have been published — the equivalent of one every seven weeks, diagnostic waiting times continue to climb and more patients are turning to private healthcare. Since 2019-20, private admissions have increased by 55 per cent, with Labour claiming there is effectively a two-tier healthcare system.

NHS staff are around 50 per cent more likely than the general population to experience chronic stress, linked to staff shortages, high workload, and pressure to maintain quality care, according to the report.

Analysis in the report shows performance in Scotland’s NHS was declining on key measures prior to the pandemic and “the challenges in the NHS were not caused by the Covid-19 pandemic” as the SNP government consistently has claimed – rather, Covid “exposed and enhanced” existing weaknesses.

Mr McKirdy concludes that “the current challenges are not insurmountable, but they do require a fundamentally new approach” and that “serious change is needed in the direction and leadership of the health service”.

Mike McKirdy, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar said: "Our NHS is our most precious public service, but as doctors themselves have warned the very existence of the service is in danger.

"The situation uncovered by the McKirdy report is one of governmental failure with Scots paying the price.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar | Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

He added: "This landmark report shows the SNP's utter failure to recover from the impact of the pandemic is because of their inability to modernise our NHS for the future.

"Enough is enough – we don’t need more undelivered strategies, we need bold and meaningful change to fix our NHS and to tackle the waiting list crisis.”

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.

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