By Democrat reporter
The SNP has broken a critical post-pandemic health pledge to thousands of vulnerable Scots despite pouring millions into the plan, data obtained by Scottish Labour has revealed.
The majority of Scots with learning disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome are still waiting to be offered an NHS health check despite the SNP promising to offer such assessments by 31 March 2023.
The SNP Government first announced the plan in May 2022 and has handed at least £4million to health boards, yet data obtained by Scottish Labour confirmed that none of the boards has made a target and in one board, no patient has received a health check at all.
This is despite the SNP’s then Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart writing to the Holyrood Health Committee in 2022 stating: “It is the expectation of the Scottish Government that by 31st March 2023 all of the known adults with learning disabilities will have been offered their first annual health check and that the majority will have had one completed.”
In February 2024, Scottish Labour’s spokesperson on Social Security Paul O’Kane, left, asked the current Minister for Social Care Maree Todd how many Scots with learning disabilities had received a health check since the government’s announcement in 2022.
Todd then pledged that all Scots with learning disabilities should expect to be offered a health by 31st March 2024, suggesting that the government’s original target date had been moved back by one year.
However, health board data obtained by Scottish Labour confirmed that this delayed timetable has also not been met.
Scots with learning disabilities die on average twenty years earlier than the rest of the population.
Heather was eligible for a health check but has not been contacted.
She said: “I would really like to speak to the doctors about my health issues, but it is really hard to get an appointment, and you only get 15 minutes to talk about stuff and having my health check would give me more time to talk about what I want to.
“According to the doctors I’m in a high-risk category so I really feel like I should be getting a health check. Also, covid is still out there and I was recently unwell because I had norovirus which was scary because I know the statistics for people with learning disabilities.”
Paul O’Kane said: “Two years ago the SNP boasted about bringing in these health checks but instead they have let Scots with learning disabilities down.
“In my role as Convener for the CPG on Learning Disabilities I’ve spoken to many people who know they’re entitled to a health check yet have no indication of when they will get one and that is unacceptable.
“This SNP Government must now explain what has happened to the £millions it poured into this plan if the intended recipients are not seeing the results.
“Neil Gray and Maree Todd must come forward to Parliament to explain why they have failed to deliver these checks on time, why they didn’t inform parliament about the delay, and what they will do to ensure all Scots with learning disabilities get the health check they were promised as soon as possible.”
Top of page picture: Young people with learning difficulties on an outing in West Dunbartonshire.