Under the SNP the pressure on our NHS is unbearable, and more cuts will make it worse, Scottish Labour said today.

Information released today shows: 

·         Over 1,000 patients who were clinically ready to be released from hospital were kept in.

·         Missed targets on A&E with more than 50 patients waiting more than 8 hours at the £850 million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

·         An increase in operations cancelled for non-clinical or capacity reasons.

·         Missed targets for adults starting psychological therapies.

·         Only 76% of children and young people starting mental health treatment compared to a target of 90%. 

Scottish Labour said the results were a damning verdict on the SNP’s management of the NHS, and that hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts in the Scottish budget to local services which support vulnerable people would only increase the pressure on our health service. 

Scottish Labour Public Services spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: 

“This is a damning verdict on the SNP’s crisis management of our NHS and their plans for hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts will only increase the pressure on the health service. 

“Last February SNP Health Minister Shona Robison promised to eradicate delayed discharge from our health service. Today that promise hasn’t just been broken; it has been smashed to pieces. 

“We are seeing missed targets in our A&E wards, with fifty patients waiting more than eight hours for treatment at Scotland’s flagship £850m hospital. 

“Under the SNP Government more operations are being cancelled because hospitals don’t have the capacity and resources to cope. 

“The number of patients, especially children, waiting longer than they should have for mental health treatment is nothing short of a national scandal. If these numbers for mental health were replicated for physical treatment there would be an outcry. These patients should not be left behind. 

“Only a third of our NHS workforce believe there are enough staff do their jobs properly which  is a  result of the SNP not supporting hard working staff. 

“The SNP budget will propose hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts to schools and local services which support vulnerable people -; and we know that job losses and service cuts can have a serious impact on deprivation, health inequalities and mental health in particular. 

“We don’t have to accept that. Faced with the choice between cuts that will increase the already unbearable pressure on our health service or using the powers of the Scottish Parliament we must use the powers. Labour would set the Scottish rate of income tax 1 penny higher than George Osborne to stop the cuts