The British Medical Association has told the Scottish Government it is “naive” to believe the NHS can be spared from public spending cuts.
Although it warned against “drastic cuts” in health spending, the BMA said cuts will have to be made in the health service, which accounts for more than a third of all public spending in Scotland.
The BMA made its comments in its submission to the Independent Budget Review group, which issued its recommendations on how to make cuts worth £3.7bn over the next three years. It said up to 60,000 public-sector jobs must be cut to make the necessary savings.
Although the BMA acknowledged any cutbacks would be a “seismic shock” to the NHS, it said it is inconceivable the health service would be spared from any cuts over the coming years.
“If the scale of the real terms reduction in public spending in Scotland is anything like that envisaged by the review, it would be naive to believe that the healthcare budget, one-third of Scottish Government expenditure, could remain immune from its impact.”
However, the BMA said greater strain will be put on the NHS because of the economic gloom, and warned that there should not be any “drastic cuts” in the NHS budget.
In their own submission to the review group, NHS chief executives have suggested fining patients who miss their appointments and charging for some hotel services. They also suggested the universal provision of free personal care should be scrapped, with only the poorest receiving the service.
However, the SNP Scottish Government has refused to countenance any cut in the NHS budget and maintains there will be no compulsory job losses in the health services.
A spokesman for finance secretary John Swinney said, “All parts of the public sector face challenges. We believe it is right to apply Barnett consequentials from UK Government health spending increases in England to health spending in Scotland.”