Doctors call for Holyrood to depoliticise NHS as Swinney writes to opponents expect Reform for 'co-operation'
Doctors have called on the new Scottish Parliament to learn lessons from Denmark but taking the politics out of the NHS.
A leading doctors’ organisation has called for an “open, honest national conversation” over the future of Scotland’s NHS - appealing to the new Scottish Parliament to depoliticise the health service.
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, has made an appeal for a national conversation to chart the path for the future of Scotland’s NHS.
The call comes after SNP leader John Swinney wrote to all opposition parties at Holyrood, except Reform, inviting them to work in collaboration.
Mr Swinney, who is poised to form a minority administration at Holyrood, was unable to secure a parliamentary majority but will have a host of opposition parties to forge agreements with on various issues.
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has argued that, following the outcome of last week’s election, political parties must now work together to secure the future of the NHS, something which political parties achieved in Denmark in 2024.
Denmark’s three governing parties, as well as four other parties, formed an agreement on radical changes to Denmark’s healthcare system, which re-organised services in response to demographic and workforce challenges.
The Royal College believes a similar move is particularly important in Scotland given no one party has a majority in parliament.
Professor Mark Strachan, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, called for “an open, honest national conversation about the future of Scotland’s NHS”.
He added: “We want to see a healthcare convention established, which should involve politicians across different parties, healthcare professionals and the public.
“The scale of the challenge is clear: without changes to the funding envelope and without reform, it will become increasingly difficult to sustain a health system capable of providing comprehensive care for everyone, free at the point of use.
“We urge the political parties to work together across the new parliament to agree a transparent, long-term plan that protects the founding principles of the NHS for future generations.”
An SNP spokesperson argued that the party “has a plan for our NHS and it is working”, stressing that “we will look to keep driving improvements constructively in the new Parliament”.
The spokesperson added: “In government, the SNP led the future medical workforce project with doctors this year with cross-party representation and our new government will look to build on this.”
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “Fixing the mess the SNP has made of our NHS must be a top priority for this parliament.
“Scottish Labour will always work constructively to deliver a better future for our NHS and we will hold the SNP to account on their election promises.
“We cannot afford any more mismanagement and decline when so many Scots are being let down in their hour of need.”
Scottish Greens co-leader, Gillian Mackay, said: “I hope that in this parliament we can see cross-party support for real action to fix the issues raised by medical professionals, not just within our front-line NHS services but also across society to take more preventive action to reduce the demand on our health service.
“It will always be important to the Scottish Greens that we protect the founding principles of the NHS, ensuring it is always free at the point of use and owned by the people of Scotland.
“We will also always stand up for the rights of our hardworking healthcare professionals who are so often overworked and underrepresented in the decision-making processes that affect their employment and the care of patients.”
Mr Swinney wrote to the leaders of Labour, the Greens, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, inviting them to meet him this week and co-operate with his party.
He said: “The SNP government has been emphatically re-elected, but it is right that we now look to find common ground.
“I am today urging every party other than Reform UK to work openly and constructively with us in the national interest – and I give my assurance that my government will operate on a basis of cross-party cooperation.
“But I have been very clear – we will have absolutely nothing to do with Reform UK. They have nothing to offer the people of Scotland, I fundamentally disagree with their values and many of those who have been elected to represent them have expressed reprehensible views.”
He added: “I said during the election campaign that we would lock them out of influence in the Scottish Parliament and that is exactly what I will do.
“Our focus will be delivering the manifesto on which we were so emphatically elected, and I look forward to working cooperatively with other parties on these plans.”
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