SNP's new NHS action plan looks like a ChatGPT rehash of old promises

The SNP churns out as many cunning plans as Baldrick in Blackadder, but very little seems to happen as a result

Last week, Audit Scotland released a damning report telling the Scottish Government what anyone who has recently tried to book a GP appointment already knows – there are simply not enough GPs to see patients.

The SNP government pledged to increase the number of GPs in 2018, yet today there are fewer whole-time equivalent GPs while demand for their services has risen. Worryingly, Audit Scotland found that the commitment to increase the number of GPs by 800 by 2027 is unlikely to be met.

In fact, since 2013, the number of whole-time equivalent GPs has fallen by nearly 200. Faced with these facts, the SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray told the BBC he was publishing an operational improvement plan.

As many people know, it can be hard to get a prompt appointment to see a GP (Picture: Carl Court) | Getty Images

Fumbled reforms

The SNP churns out plans at an impressive rate – there have been five NHS plans in four years. But like Baldrick in Blackadder, it’s easier to come up with a cunning plan than deliver it.

The SNP has had nearly two decades to improve primary care. Yet the proportion of the NHS Budget spent on GPs has fallen from 11 per cent in 2004 to 6.5 per cent today. Furthermore, when the SNP did have a chance to make reforms, it fumbled them.

A 2018 contract set out plans to support GPs with multi-disciplinary teams employed by the health boards, yet the Audit Scotland report found the SNP had missed two deadlines to hire this new workforce.

Meanwhile, it became unclear whether GPs or the health board were responsible for what service. As Audit Scotland put it: “The vision and strategic direction for general practice is not clear.” No wonder some GPs are voting with their feet.

And patients are feeling the direct consequences of this SNP failure. In a 2023/24 survey, they reported being less satisfied on every measure compared to 2017/18, with more reporting they could not book appointments in advance, and less reporting that their care was good quality and they felt in control.

Incompetence and delay

So can Neil Gray’s operational improvement plan offer more clarity? Unfortunately, it reads less like a blueprint for the future and more like a ChatGPT version of the SNP’s other plans.

A pledge for a ‘digital front door’? Already made back in 2021 and it should have been delivered by 2023. Fast-track cancer diagnostic centres? Excellent news, except that it was a 2021 manifesto pledge which is only going to be fulfilled this spring.

I have no doubt that there are people in the Scottish Government working very hard. But just as those waiting on a GP phoneline understandably lose patience with the automated voice telling them it’s busy, we cannot expect Scots who need urgent medical care to settle for this level of delay and incompetence.

Scottish Labour will focus on outcomes, not inputs. We will reduce waiting times, restore the family doctor and make sure you can see your GP in 48 hours. We will not only train up GPs, but we will retain them.

Less plans, more action and delivery – that’s the change Scotland needs.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health