NHS Scotland is going to face significant financial pressures the spending watchdog Audit Scotland warned as it rated overall NHS performance in Scotland “good”. However, demand is set to rise while at the same time inflationary pressures have reduced health service funding in Scotland by 1.4% in real terms.
The Scottish Government has continued to increase cash funding for the NHS however, “higher inflation means that funding is decreasing in real terms,” the report says. The Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has blamed the coalition government for spending cuts in NHS Scotland.
Already, the health budget at about £1 Billion is almost a third of entire Scottish Government spending and it is facing real spending cuts. At the same time, the cost of treating patients has gone up along with prices of medicines and equipments.
"Public bodies, including the NHS, are facing increasing pressures and demands, such as responding to the needs of Scotland's changing population, the effects of the recession and the backlog in maintaining the public-sector estate," the report said.
The Audit Scotland report also highlights that Scottish population is expected to rise by 10% while the NHS faces real spending cuts. "The Scottish government's 2011 spending review outlined a 4.2% real-terms decrease in NHS funding in the five years to 2014-15,” the report added as it went on to point out decreases in capital spending over the next four years.
In terms of health boards, some have seen a modest increase of 1.3% in funding however that has been compensated with 3% reduction in funding for others. "In 2010-11, all NHS boards met their financial targets for the third year in a row, and there is continued progress against the 'big three' diseases of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer.
"However, it is clear that there are building pressures in the system from increased costs and rising expectations and demand."
The watchdog points out in these circumstances the health service needs to radically transform how it delivers services and embrace collaboration with other public sector organisation to tackle deeply embedded “health inequalities” in Scotland to ease the pressure on the NHS.
At a national level, we are seeing a good picture of the performance of the NHS in Scotland. In 2010-11 all NHS boards met their financial targets for the third year in a row and there is continued progress against the big three diseases of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer,” Robert Black, Auditor General for Scotland, said. “"However, it is clear that there are building pressures in the system from increased costs and rising expectations and demand."
The Scottish Health Secretary and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed this report shows that the NHS Scotland is performing well despite the “swinging” spending cuts made by the coalition government in Westminster. She argued the SNP administration is “delivering a good deal for the NHS in Scotland, with core budgets of our territorial health boards increasing in real terms, while we have fully delivered our commitment to pass on Barnett resource consequentials to health."
The opposition parties latched on the report’s revelations that a significant number of midwives and nurses jobs have been lost and the Royal College of Nursing has warned any further reduction would jeopardise patient care.