Scotland's NHS needs to refocus its priorities

The Auditor General for Scotland has stressed that Scotland's NHS needs to refocus its priorities to speed up health and social care integration and system wide reform.

Acknowledging that the health service continues to face growing pressure from a population that is living longer, the public spending watchdog reported that just two out of eight key waiting time standards were met last year as staff struggled to meet rising demand for care.

Achieving financial sustainability also remains a major challenge for health boards, with half of all NHS savings shown to be non-recurring, while predicted deficits and reliance on additional financial support from government has increased. The capital budget has also reduced by 63 per cent over the last decade and there is a near £1 billion of backlog maintenance and issues around high-profile capital builds.

Caroline Gardner, the Auditor General for Scotland, said: "The NHS in Scotland is running too hot, with intense pressure on staff and a service model that will remain financially unsustainable without a much greater focus on health and social care integration. We're beginning to see examples of new ways of delivering healthcare but they're some distance from the system-wide reform the NHS needs. The challenge for the Scottish Government and its partners will be to agree new priorities that enable large-scale change and which create a leadership culture that supports and respects all staff."