FIRST Minister John Swinney will lay out plans for a “substantial increase” in NHS capacity in a keynote speech on Monday.
The SNP leader will tell an audience of representatives from across the health and social care sector that the Scottish Government will ensure an additional 150,000 appointments and procedures per year in a bid to drive down waiting times.
Swinney will also announce plans to increase investment in primary care in order to make it easier for people to see a GP and the roll-out of a Scottish health and social care app labelled a “digital front door” to the NHS.
The First Minister will say: “Protecting, strengthening, renewing our NHS – that is a goal I think we can all get behind. A real focus of common purpose.
“That requires action from me, as First Minister, from my Health Secretary Neil Gray, and from my Government. We can offer the leadership and direction – as the measures outlined today seek to do.
“So, today, we commit to a substantial increase in capacity in order to significantly reduce people’s waits.
“Our plan will ensure that a greater proportion of new NHS investment goes to primary and community care. GPs and services in the community will have the resources they need to play a greater role in our health system.
“This increased investment will result in GP services that are easier for people to access. That is important in terms of people’s confidence in the health service – but equally, it will make it more likely that health issues are picked up quickly and dealt with earlier.
“Our National Health Service is there when we need it. No other public institution supports us with so much care through life’s biggest moments. We must support it in return.
“The approach I set out today charts our course to do that. It addresses both the challenges and the opportunities. It sets the NHS on a path of modernisation and renewal.”
Swinney is also expected to acknowledge the “challenges” faced by the NHS – but will insist that talk of privatisation being floated by Conservative and Reform MPs is the wrong path.
“It is personal for all of us, and that is why we care about it so much. That is why we want to see it thriving again and why we need all parts of Scottish society to unite behind its renewal.
“There are some who oppose the NHS model and believe that the answer to our challenges is privatisation.
“They want us to believe that the health service is beyond saving and on the point of collapse. But that is simply not true.
“The challenges are great, of that I have no doubt. But I know that our NHS is fundamentally resilient and robust.
“There is nothing wrong with the NHS that can’t be fixed by what is right with the NHS.”
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokesperson and depute leader, said: "Any effort to improve Scots' access to the NHS is welcome – it's just a shame it's taken the SNP nearly 18 years to take action.
"The UK Labour Government delivered a record Budget settlement for Scotland so it is right that the Scottish Government increases appointment capacity.
"But with nearly one in six Scots on a waiting list and thousands stuck in hospital due to delayed discharge, there is no quick fix.
"The SNP Government must tackle the crisis in social care and NHS recruitment to get our NHS running smoothly again, yet the SNP has presided over a failed National Care Service Bill while NHS workers are voting with their feet.
"Our NHS needs a new direction and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it."
