Campaign and petition email responses

Only the NHS

Healthcare is a devolved matter, with the Scottish Government responsible for NHS Scotland and the UK Government responsible for NHS England. 

The SNP supports a nationalised, publicly run NHS, that serves the interests of the people of Scotland not the shareholders of private companies. This is why the SNP in the Scottish Government has provided record funding of over £19bn between 2023 and 2024, providing new investment of over £1bn and supporting recovery and reform to secure sustainable public services.

The Tory party and the UK Government have shown themselves not to be trustable when it comes to the NHS, having previously installed Health Ministers that support the privatisation of the NHS via an insurance-based system, and seeking a damaging trade deals with the USA that would leave the NHS vulnerable to US Medical Companies and pharmaceutical price rises. 

The SNP will never support the privatisation of the NHS in Scotland, and actively campaign against it both in Holyrood and Westminster. The SNP will also oppose the privatisation of the NHS in England, as this will have negative consequences for the provision of healthcare in Scotland too. 

The Tories have been working to undermine the NHS by stealth where they can't openly privatise it, undermining NHS funding consistently.

The SNP in Westminster will continue to call on the UK Government to deliver a deserved pay rise to NHS staff in England and deliver to the NHS in England the funding necessary to rebuild from the pandemic. This would deliver more funding to Scotland to support the NHS and support pay increases for staff.

While the UK Government remains firm in blocking fair funding for the NHS, and Labour continue to match the Tories on policy, Scotland's hands are tied behind its back in funding the NHS.

The Scottish Government has acted to reform the Scottish income tax system, making it fairer and more able to support the NHS. The effect is that income tax liabilities are lower in Scotland for those on less than £28,000 per year, but greater for those on higher incomes. For example, someone on £50,000 will pay £1,550 more tax in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, and someone on £150,000 will pay £3,900 more. This enables greater funding to be put into our NHS and our hardworking staff and builds a greater progressive tax system in which the rich pay their fair share and the fact the bottom 10% of earners pay almost £600 a year less in tax.

Under the SNP, the number of people employed in the NHS in Scotland has increased in recent years to historically high levels, and frontline health spending is 4.6% (£143) higher per head in Scotland than in the UK as a whole, despite this, there remain high vacancy rates across the NHS in the UK in particular due to the effects of Brexit and the ending of freedom of movement.

As per the RCPG and BMA: Over 40% of GP trainees are international graduates but 49% have reported issues with the visa process and 17% are considering leaving the UK altogether, as a result, to take their skills elsewhere. The UK Government is hamstringing the NHS with red tape, the Scottish Government call for a more streamlined immigration integration scheme that ensures those with skills and qualifications can utilise them fully in our economy.

The Tories are holding back NHS funding, recruitment, and investment. Only independence and the full financial powers it would deliver Scotland can help properly support the NHS.