The Government must show leadership and spell out the detail of how health and social care reform will be achieved, the BMA has demanded. BMA Scotland chair Peter Bennie said that the health service was facing real challenges, including recruitment and retention of doctors, against a background of rising demand and tightening resources.
He was speaking as the Scottish Government published its Health and Social Care Delivery Plan, backed by £128m of funding for 2017/18. According to health secretary Shona Robison, the plan puts actions and timescales to an already agreed direction of travel, and recognises the need to ‘up the pace of change’.
It was published in response to an Audit Scotland report which said that progress in transforming and integrating health and social care services in Scotland wasn’t happening fast enough.
But Dr Bennie said more detail was needed. ‘The challenges facing Scotland’s health service are real and growing, as rapidly increasing demands coincide with a time of highly constrained resources.
‘Doctors and other healthcare professionals are therefore looking to our politicians to show leadership on how the NHS is to meet these challenges.
For full story see BMA 20 December 2016