SCOTLAND has “blazed a trail” in areas of health policy, chief medical officer for England Sir Chris Whitty has said.
Whitty, who alongside Scotland’s chief medical officer (CMO) Gregor Smith was knighted for his work during the Covid pandemic, praised the work on health policy north of the Border during a committee hearing at Westminster.
Speaking to MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee, Whitty said: “Firstly, just to acknowledge the really great work that is done in Scotland, although I am just speaking on England, I am the CMO for England, I talk every week, and often more than that, to my opposite number Dr Smith and his … fantastic public health colleagues in Scotland.
“We learn a lot, because Scotland has actually blazed a trail in many areas of public health that we have learnt from.”
Whitty added: “I hope the same is also true in the other direction, so there is learning between the four nations of the UK.”
Martyn Day, an SNP MP and his party’s health spokesperson at Westminster, said that Scots “benefit from the most generous social contract in any part of the UK”.
Day said: “From free school meals to free prescriptions and the baby box, the SNP has led the way in delivering progressive and forward-thinking public health measures that people across Scotland have benefitted from.
“So, it’s really no surprise that England’s chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, has been looking north while public health standards in the rest of the UK remain stuck.
“The SNP government’s approach to improving Scotland’s public health is working and we are moving in the right direction.
"Yet, we all know there is much work to do while far too many families continue to be affected by the Tory cost of living crisis.
“The SNP has used the powers it does have to ensure that people in Scotland benefit from the most generous social contract in any part of the UK.
“The SNP team at Westminster will continue pressing the Tories to match Scotland’s ambitions on health, but it is beyond question that the only way we can realise our full potential as the healthier, stronger and more equal nation we all want to see is through independence.”
