By Lucy Ashton
Dame Jackie Baillie has accused the Scottish Government of catastrophically failing to remobilise Scotland’s NHS.
Her considered response comes in the wake of a damning new report by Audit Scotland highlighted the difficulties the organisation is facing.
The public services watchdog unveiled its ‘NHS in Scotland 2023’ document this week, which highlights how healthcare services have failed to be sufficiently ramped up after the Covid pandemic.
It laid bare what most patients already know, that the “NHS in Scotland is still struggling to provide healthcare in a timely way” and concluded that “most waiting times standards are not being met”.
Only three out of eight key waiting times standards have been met at a national level in any quarter in the last four years.
Between July and September 2023, only one out of the eight key targets was met at NHS Scotland level.
Performance nationally in the latest quarter had improved against four standards when compared with the equivalent period a year ago, but deteriorated in the other four.
The report also found that health boards were not meeting the 62 day waiting times standard for cancer patients to begin treatment in the quarter ending September 30, 2023.
In addition, “waiting lists for planned care are still substantially larger and waiting times substantially longer” than before the pandemic, with “activity still running below pre-pandemic levels” and more cases being added to waiting lists than removed.
Audit Scotland also concluded that new Scottish Government commitments on waiting lists and waiting times made in the 2023/24 Programme for Government, are unlikely to be met based on current progress.
Orthopaedics was singled out as one of the specialities where waits “continue to be particularly long”, with the highest number of ongoing cases of waits of 18 months or more.
It also notes that pressures on A&E departments continue, with performance against the four hour standard remaining “poor” and “instances of extreme overcrowding in A&E departments” reported, alongside increased turnaround times for ambulance crews.
The Scottish Government’s Delayed Discharge and Hospital Occupancy Plan, developed in early 2023 and designed to tackle bed-blocking and help improve patient flow has also: “not managed to free up as much capacity in hospitals as was anticipated”.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s GlasFLOW model, which aims to improve patient flow through hospital departments, was described by staff as “not a magic bullet” and Audit Scotland urged that the impact be monitored to: “ensure that patient safety and experience issues are not transferred to other parts of the system” from under-pressure A&E departments.
NHS staff were also noted to remain “under significant pressure” and the watchdog remained unsure whether the Scottish Government’s workforce strategies “will be enough” to resolve the ongoing challenge.
It also notes that: “progress in certain areas is behind schedule”.
Financial concerns were also highlighted however, although all 22 NHS boards met break-even requirements in 2022/23, five required additional funding. Health remains the single largest area of Scottish Government spending, accounting for 39 per cent of the budget in 2022/23.
Audit Scotland also found though, that savings identified in the 2023/24 three-year financial plans submitted by health boards would not be sufficient to allow them to break even.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde relied on £119.7m of non-recurring savings to plug a massive part of a £174.5m savings target in 2022/23 – with only £54.8m in recurring savings found.
Commenting on the Audit Scotland 2023 report, Scottish Labour health spokesperson and Dumbarton MSP, Jackie Baillie, said: “This report lays bare the SNP government’s catastrophic failure to re-mobilise our NHS following the pandemic – with patients paying the price.
“Audit Scotland reveals this government’s lack of ‘overall vision’ for the future delivery of healthcare in Scotland. Without a proper plan to support primary and social care, the situation in our NHS will only deteriorate.
“As our A&E departments overheat and almost 1 in 6 Scots languish on waiting lists, the cancellation of all infrastructure projects threatens to fan the flames of the NHS crisis. The fact is that the very existence of our NHS is at risk under the SNP.
“Only Scottish Labour has a plan to slash waiting lists by delivering 160,000 more appointments every year, empower clinicians and to put modern technology at the heart of our NHS. That’s the change Scotland needs.”