By Steve Bargeton, political editor

THE SNP yesterday backed a radical plan to put Scottish hospitals on a bonus scheme to increase NHS capacity.

At the party conference in Aviemore delegates voted overwhelmingly to consider a system introduced in Norway which has cut hospital waiting times by 40%.

The scheme involves making “incentive payments” to hospitals for using spare capacity to carry out more operations.

Outlining the scheme to conference, SNP health spokeswoman Shona Robison said, “Under our proposals a significant part of the hospitals budget would remain in the form of the block grant but another part of it would be related to activity to encourage use of spare capacity.

“So if a hospital used its operating theatre at weekends or in the evenings to carry out additional procedures and bring down waiting lists, they would be paid for that additional activity and earn additional resources for their hospital.

“This way incentives are put in the system to encourage the use of spare capacity, something that is just not happening at the moment.”

Ms Robison made it clear the proposal was in no way “back door privatisation” and said the bonus scheme worked well in Norway.

“Norway introduced a two-part payment system in 1997 and it has delivered a 40% cut in waiting times,” said the Dundee East MSP.

SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon backed the propo- sal and urged SNP members to understand that to have any chance of success at the 2007 Holyrood elections, the party needs credible policies. “We have an obligation to devise solutions of our own,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon said operating theatres lie idle for 16 hours a day and there are 10,000 nurses in Scotland not working in the NHS.

A minority of delegates opposed the idea. One, Tom Chalmers, spoke for many when he said, “Let’s not insult our health professionals by saying that they work better for money.

“This is payment by result … If you want them to act efficiently, this is not how you do it.”

Conference approved other measures designed to improve the efficiency of the health service, including increasing the number of undergraduate medical places in Scotland by 100 and providing more diagnostic treatment centres.

In a later debate the conference called for immediate abolition of prescription charges for the chronically ill and those in full-time training or education, with a phased abolition for the rest of the population.