Scotland’s NHS ‘broken & collapsing’ as leading A&E medic calls for urgent health service overhaul
SCOTLAND’s NHS is “broken” and “collapsing” and an overhaul system is urgently needed, a leading A&E doctor has warned.
The British Medical Association Scotland’s Dr Lailah Peel also said she was unsure if ministers who stage “photo opportunities” in hospitals were aware of the grim reality on the ground.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf - who makes regular visits to hospitals for media calls - released an 15 months ago, which rivals say has flopped.
Asked if politicians understand the realities of the crisis, Dr Peel - a medic at s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, said: “I hope that they do, but I don’t know because I’m not seeing the action that’s actually changing what’s happening on the ground.
“I haven’t seen a politician in an A&E department when it’s actually been busy. Other than.. you know, photo opportunities and things like that.
The prospect was later rubbished by ministers.
But Dr Peel said there needed to be “open and honest conversations” with the public about the future of the NHS and how it should be structured, adding: “The system is broken.”
She said: “It’s adored all the world over because it is a fantastic system - when it works. Right now, it is not working.
"It has not been working for a long time. And it has gradually gone down that path.”
A lack of care home beds to discharge older people to means many wards are full - with a knock-on effect for A&Es, which can’t move patients on.
Dr Peel was asked about comments from Donald Macaskill, from industry body Scottish Care, suggesting growing pressure on care home members would heap further weight onto the creaking NHS.
And A&E wait times have risen.
Dr Peel said by the end of her shift on Saturday, people were waiting “five, six hours”.
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Asked about Dr Peel’s comments, SNP deputy leader and Scottish Government minister Keith Brown said there was a “serious situation” but claimed a “structural situation” meant Scotland did not get enough health funding.
He added: “It’s one reason why I think we have to be independent.”