Inflation will cost NHS £85m, warns Labour

Published on Saturday 23 August 2008 22:07

THE NHS is facing cuts of £85m over the coming year because soaring inflation will outstrip the extra cash being ploughed in by ministers, Labour chiefs are warning.

With inflation projected to rise by 4.4%, Labour says the 3.15% increase in funding awarded by SNP ministers will mean real cuts across the board.

It claims patients will suffer as a result, as hospitals are forced to find savings.

The SNP described the claims as "absurd and inaccurate" and blamed Gordon Brown for the rising rate of inflation.

The row comes after Greater Glasgow Health Board revealed it had ordered savings of 42m in its own area. Finance chiefs blamed rising wage costs and "significantly lower" funding from the Holyrood Government than in previous years. Labour released a table which it claims shows the extent of cuts across every other health board area. Lothian faces a cut of nearly 9m. Ayrshire & Arran, Lanarkshire and Tayside are all being cut by more than 6m.

Margaret Curran, Labour's health spokeswoman, said: "These are not just efficiency savings, but real cuts to the health service totalling over 85m. I am very concerned that patient care will suffer as a result. If Nicola Sturgeon doesn't want to be branded the Minister for Health Cuts she must make the NHS a genuine priority for the SNP and find the money to fund it properly."

A spokeswoman for Sturgeon said the SNP had raised spending on health above the projected inflation rate, and said that, had Labour won the election last year, things would have been worse.