Anas Sarwar said McKirdy report proved “the SNP is the architect of the crisis in our NHS – they will never be the ones to fix it”.
Scotland’s NHS requires “serious changes” in its leadership if the health service is to be saved for future generations, a report by a veteran medical leader has warned.
Mike McKirdy, a retired consultant surgeon, said “more of the same will not be enough” to ensure Scots can continue to enjoy healthcare free at the point of need.
The former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow was asked by Scottish Labour to examine in detail the scale of the challenges facing the NHS in Scotland.
McKirdy’s report, which is published today, warns that the founding principles of the health service “are becoming strained and frayed” and current trends risk “entrenching a two tier system where access depends increasingly on ability to pay rather than clinical need”.
It comes as rising numbers of Scots opt to go private to avoid waiting lists for routine operations like hip or knee replacements. Since 2019/20, private admissions have increased by 55 per cent.
The report reveals that since the SNP took power at Holyrood in 2007, more than 130 major health strategies have been published — the equivalent of one every seven weeks.
McKirdy also found the median wait time for an NHS 24 call to be answered has jumped to 22.5 minutes in the last year, up from just nine seconds in 2014/15.
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Diagnostic waiting times also continue to climb, with the radiology waiting list in December 2024 standing 88 per cent higher than in December 2017, while the endoscopy waiting list had grown by 36 per cent.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the McKirdy report proved “the SNP is the architect of the crisis in our NHS – they will never be the ones to fix it”.
Writing in his regular column for the Record today, he added: “We can only fix this crisis if we get to grips with the scale of it and the driving causes behind it.
“That’s why Scottish Labour commissioned a landmark report into the state of the National Health Service in Scotland from Mr Mike McKirdy – one of Scotland’s leading clinicians and experts on our National Health Service.
“For years our NHS has been in a state of decline – since long before the pandemic. The SNP failed to adapt services in the face of a changing world.
“It chose cheap headlines over real reform. Staff have been pushed to breaking point due to a total failure in workforce planning and toxic cultures of secrecy and cover-up among managers.
“Preventative care, primary care and social care have been badly neglected, piling pressure on hospitals and emergency care. A muddle of Health Boards holds back reform and blocks accountability.
“The truth is the SNP is the architect of the crisis in our NHS – they will never be the ones to fix it. We need bold reforms and big ideas to protect our NHS for future generations.”
The Record asked the Scottish Government for comment.
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