NHS in Scotland is on the critical list but all hope is not lost

As the letter says today “the current system of delivering health care and social care in Scotland is unsustainable, often stretched beyond capacity, overly complicated, difficult to navigate, often inefficient”.

READ MORE: Critical reform is needed of Scotland’s health system

It calls for work across sectors, and across party-boundaries to find solutions and take the hard decisions necessary to ensure a sustainable system for the benefit of all.

And the letter points to John Swinney’s recent summit aimed at countering the rise of far-right politics, as an example of how politicians and civic leaders could be brought together to find common ground and work for the good of the whole population.

“It is not helpful to view the future health of the country and the problems currently facing our health care and social care systems as the responsibility of any one political party, government or individual minister,” the letter says.

“In reality, the challenges to health and the crises in our NHS are caused by a combination of complex and inter-related factors which have arisen over many years, for which there are no quick or simple solutions. Transformation is beyond the capacity of any one political party, government or group of stakeholders, who should not be expected to carry that burden alone.”

This is a key point. Too often the performance of the NHS in particular is reduced to a political football. Point-scoring becomes more important than actually working on solutions to the biggest issues facing us today. For wholesale change demanded, there must be a partnership approach – and crucially it must involve those who are actually working on the frontline.

The NHS and healthcare in general is on the critical list – but all hope is not lost.