15 February 2008
Funding for NHS boards in Scotland is to rise to £8bn over the next year, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
She said the average increase of 3.3% would help to improve the health of the people of Scotland. Opposition parties claimed that Scots were getting a bad deal.
The £8bn will be shared by 14 territorial NHS boards and eight special boards in 2008-09, adding up to an overall health budget that will total £10.65bn.
Sturgeon said the investment would help deliver the Scottish government's priorities for improving health care for all Scots. She added: 'An additional £257.5m is being provided to enable NHS boards to meet the needs of their local populations in line with the priorities we have set. This funding announcement will help health boards deliver better, faster and more local access to treatment, particularly in our most deprived communities.'
The announcement was criticised by Scottish Labour's public health spokesman, Dr Richard Simpson, who claimed the funding fell behind the health spending increases his party provided when it was in power.
'The 3.3% funding package will not keep up with health service inflation to meet the needs of an ageing population, new technology and the prices of new drugs for cancer and other treatments,' he said.
Simpson argued that, over the period of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the real-terms increase for Scotland amounted to just 1.5%, compared with 4% for overall health spending in England. 'This is a bad deal for Scotland's health service and its patients,' he said.
The Liberal Democrats also attacked the announcement, claiming the increase would not match the above-inflation costs of drugs and equipment.
Among individual health boards, the largest allocation – £1.8bn – will go to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
PFfeb2008
