By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 27 August 2014
Official figures have shown health authorities in Scotland are failing to meet key performance targets, which come as the Yes campaign for Scottish independence has moved healthcare provision to the centre of the debate.
According to the NHS Scotland’s Information Services Division (IDS), only one of Scotland’s 14 health boards – NHS Tayside – were hitting the target set by ministers that 98% of Accident & Emergency patients should be treated or released within four hours. Scotland-wide, the rate rose marginally in the quarter to June, from 93% to 94%.
This missed target is despite Scottish NHS staffing levels standing at record levels, according to the IDS.
Other figures show delayed discharges – more commonly known as bed-blocking – at a new record high, with the numbers of patients waiting more than four weeks more than doubling in the past year, and those waiting more than six weeks almost trebling.
Ministers have set up a task force with the local authorities body COSLA to tackle the bed-blocking problem by increasing capacity to deal with elderly patients in their own homes, but Health Secretary Alex Neil admitted that the latest figures were disappointing.
The figures come after the Yes Scotland campaign claimed that Westminster policies pose to the survival of a free and effective NHS in Scotland. The issue was the subject of some of the angriest exchanges in Monday night’s television debate between First Minister Alex Salmond and the Better Together chairman Alistair Darling.
Speaking in Glasgow, Neil added: ‘The austerity, privatisation and patient charging agenda of Westminster will have a direct impact on how much money we’ll have in future to spend on the NHS in Scotland if we stay in the UK.
‘Every £10 lost to the health and public services in England through austerity cuts, privatisation and patient charging will mean Scotland automatically loses £1 from our budget.’
Neil added: ‘It has been deeply disappointing to witness Labour politicians in Scotland trying to fool Scottish voters that the Tories and NHS privatisation pose no threat to public service budgets. South of the border, Labour in England and Wales are warning of serious consequences to the NHS from Westminster’s action.’
