Health spending is at a record high – over £13.1 billion this year. Over this Scottish Parliament term the NHS revenue budget will increase by £500 million more than inflation.
- NHS Scotland patient satisfaction is at its highest level on record. Patient satisfaction continues to increase with 91% of NHS Scotland patients rating their care and treatment as good or excellent.
- The number of people working in our health service has increased to historic levels. In the last 10 years, NHS Scotland staffing has increased by almost 12,900.
- Scotland’s hospital A&E performance has been the best in the UK for over 3 years – from March 2015 to July 2018.
- Scotland has the highest number of GPs per 100,000 population of any UK nation, and we will aim to increase the number of GPs in Scotland by at least 800 over the next decade. There’s a new GP contract to make general practice an even more attractive career prospect for doctors.
- Free prescriptions save people with chronic conditions over £100 a year. England pays £8.80 a time.
- We gave the highest pay rise for NHS Agenda for Change staff in the UK. We are guaranteeing a minimum increase of 3% for staff who earn up to £36,500, meaning that a Band 5 nurse will receive a pay rise of £870 in 2018-19.
- An extra £500 million is being invested in primary care, including GP services and health centres. Over this parliament, spending on primary care services will be increased to 11% of the frontline NHS budget.
- Since 2010, the number of people registered with an NHS dentist has almost doubled. 96% of adults from Scotland’s most deprived communities are registered with an NHS dentist.
- In the last ten years, cancer mortality is down 11%. Our new Cancer Strategy, backed up by £100 million in funding, will improve prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
- Scotland was the first country in the world to implement a national patient safety programme, and hospital safety is improving. Figures published show that between January to March 2014 and July to September 2017, hospital mortality has fallen by 10.6%.
- Scotland was the first country in the UK to have a mental health waiting times Spending on mental health services in Scotland broke the £1 billion mark last year and, we’ve published a new 10-year strategy to transform mental health services.
- Access to IVF is now the most generous in the UK. From 1 April 2017, new patients referred for IVF treatment on the NHS in Scotland may be eligible for 3 full cycles rather than 2, increasing their chances of conceiving a baby. Families who have children in the home but one parent has no biological children are now eligible.
In an independent Scotland, it will be the people of Scotland, and their Scottish Government, who will decide our future Health policy – including its funding.
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