On Monday, Tory leader in Scotland Douglas Ross MP announced his party would make £600 million worth of cuts from "other parts of the NHS" to fund his manifesto commitments, but refused to say where the axe will fall. It is the equivalent of:
15,000 whole time equivalent qualified nurses and midwives - almost a quarter of the total 64,000 workforce
25% of the total budget for medicines and medicinal supplies of £2,400 million
6% of the combined staff and medicines budget for NHS Scotland
On top of that, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that the Tory manifesto underfunds all of their pledges on the NHS by up to £1,000 million.
In contrast, an SNP Government will increase the NHS budget by at least 20% (£2,500 million) and increase the social care budget by at least 25% (£840 million).
The SNP funding commitments will increase staffing and deliver SNP policies such as increasing mental health spending by 25%; delivering a network of fast track cancer diagnostic centres including in Ayrshire; a 4-5.6% pay uplift for NHS staff; and creating a National Care Service for Scotland.
Despite the enormous pressures on our social care services due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tories have no plans to increase social care investment at all.
Cunninghame North SNP Candidate Kenneth Gibson said:
"Douglas Ross must come clean on which NHS Scotland services would face the chop under Tory plans for a staggering £600 million of cuts.
“The Tories tried to pull the wool over Scotland's eyes, claiming £600 million of additional investment, only to have to admit their plans involve a similar amount of so-called efficiencies ‘from other parts of the NHS.’ Simply put the Tory plan is to ask the NHS to do more with less.
"The Tory threat to Scotland's NHS is growing. They’ve let hospitals in England crumble, wasted billions on faulty personal protection equipment and yet have the audacity to increase prescription prices south of the border again.
“The Tories simply cannot be trusted with our NHS.”
For further detail on the SNP’s NHS commitments, please click here.
ENDS
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