Crisis facing ‘too many parts’ of NHS, John Swinney says

Multiple crises are “facing too many parts” of the NHS, John Swinney has said.

But the first minister also criticised those who claim the health service is “on the point of collapse”, saying this was “simply not true”.

He suggested those people want to open the health service up to privatisation.

Swinney delivered his fourth major speech of the year on Monday morning, this time focusing on NHS reform.

He said high waiting times and delayed discharge were “not acceptable” and suggested a problem with “flow” through the health service.

However when answering questions from the press afterwards, the first minister refused to name which parts of the NHS specifically he thought were in crisis.

But he said the three main challenges across the service were the implications of Covid, the ageing population and the “immediate short-term challenge” from the “colossal” number of flu cases.

Last autumn, health secretary Neil Gray denied that the NHS was in crisis.

In an exclusive interview with Holyrood, Gray said there were “challenges” but insisted the Scottish Government was “facing up to them”.

Asked if the NHS in Scotland was in crisis, or reaching crisis point, he replied: “No.”

Swinney was asked if the under-fire health secretary would still be in post come autumn, to which he replied: “Yes.”

During his speech at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh, the first minister said the NHS was “fundamentally resilient [and] fundamentally robust”.

He pointed to three areas which his government would seek to address: reducing immediate pressure, shifting the balance of care from acute to community services, and using digital and technological tools to improve access.

He announced the plan to expand the number of “frailty teams” within A&E departments to ensure frail patients “bypass our busy A&Es in order to receive the specialist care and support they need”.

He said £10.5m was being set aside in the budget to build GP capacity and he also confirmed the planned health and social care app will be launched by the end of the year.

The speech was welcomed by the Royal College of GPs Scotland. 

RCGP Scotland chair Dr Chris Provan said: “RCGP Scotland has long argued for the level of investment in general practice to properly reflect and value the contribution it makes to patients and the wider NHS. I think GPs across Scotland will be encouraged by the first minister’s words today.”

However, others working in the health and social care sector were more critical.

Unison Scotland co-lead for health Matt McLaughlin said: “The first minister’s renewal framework, launched today, doesn’t begin to tackle the social care crisis, and staff will be angry after he said they ‘need to do more laps of the track’.”

Colin Poolman, director of RCN Scotland, said: “Many nursing staff will not recognise the first minister’s description of a resilient and robust NHS in Scotland. Their current experience is of a service struggling to meet the needs of patients and leaving them to carry the burden of not being able to deliver the care and treatment required.”

The Scottish Conservatives have said the failures of the SNP mean “lives are being put at risk every single day”.

Health spokesperson Sandesh Gulhane said: “John Swinney might be sidelining his health secretary Neil Gray and saying he’s in 'full-on John' mode, but in doing so he needs to accept responsibility for the failings on his watch that means our NHS is on the brink of collapse, despite his claims to the contrary. The SNP have no proper vision for our NHS which will ease this situation.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health Spokesperson, said: “John Swinney talks about the pressure on Scotland's NHS like he's just noticed it - but he's had nearly 18 years to improve conditions in our GP surgeries and hospitals... These recycled announcements also made little mention of workforce planning, yet the NHS is spending millions on agency staff while GP and nurse numbers are stagnating.”