Why Scotland needs 'national coalition' to save NHS from ruin

During the Second World War, the UK faced an existential threat, and so a coalition government was formed to pursue the shared goal of defending these islands. Debate was not silenced but cheap political point-scoring was frowned upon.

Even in peace-time, we can learn from a moment in history that contains many lessons. A new Audit Scotland report has warned that, despite receiving an extra £3 billion since 2019 and employing an extra 20,000 staff, the NHS in Scotland is still in a “financially unsustainable” position because of rising demand for its services.

In other words, things cannot continue like this and radical action is required. We’ve said this, repeatedly, for years.

According to Health Secretary Neil Gray, the Scottish Government’s plan to “drive improvements in the NHS is paying off”. SNP politicians have said much the same, repeatedly, for years.

READ MORE: Survey: One in four Scots doctors say services in their department 'normally unsafe'

NHS staff need to play a greater role in deciding how to make the health service work for its patients (Picture: Christopher Furlong) | Getty Images

An existential crisis

From the rhetoric, it always seems like things are about to get better – until new figures come out, showing they’ve got worse.

The SNP may be loath to admit it, but they have run out of ideas about how to put the NHS back on a “sustainable” footing and reduce scandalously long waiting lists for treatment. Health professionals know what’s wrong with the health service, yet they appear to be sidelined in the decision-making process.

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With worried patients increasingly taking out private health insurance – if they can afford it – it’s time to accept that the NHS is facing an existential crisis so serious that politicians of all parties need to work together, in a formal way, to find much-needed solutions.

SNP and opposition politicians alike have party-political reasons to reject anything like a ‘national health coalition’, so it is unlikely to happen, particularly with a general election looming. The SNP can’t admit defeat, the opposition want to blame them for all the chaos. It’s also much easier to snipe from the sidelines than take tough decisions.

But we hope that one day, just as a previous generation put country before party, we will have politicians who recognise their moral duty to put the National Health Service above their own interests and save this truly great institution.