Barnett Formula: NHS Funding

23 Apr

Question

The session primarily centered around the funding implications of the Barnett Formula on Scotland’s NHS, highlighting tensions between political perspectives.

The initial query by Irene Campbell focused on discussions with the Scottish Government regarding Barnett-related funding impacts, particularly on NHS operational efficacy.

Over 100,000 Scots stuck on NHS waiting lists for more than a year.

Raised as a key concern regarding NHS inefficiency under SNP management.

Kirsty McNeill, responding with robust critical analysis, illustrated the perceived failures of the SNP in managing the NHS, emphasizing extensive waiting times and operational inefficiencies despite increased financial settlements. She contrasted this with what she described as progressive results under the Labour government in England, suggesting a new direction was required in Scotland.

Irene Campbell expanded the discussion to address specific local issues such as GP shortages and inadequate transport services impacting healthcare access in her constituency.

One in six people in Scotland on a waiting list.

A repeated figure in the debate to denote systemic issues.

Seamus Logan defended the SNP’s record by questioning potential conflicts of interest within Labour’s stance, suggesting ties to private healthcare might influence policy. He attributed the challenges to cuts led by central government influences rather than regional mismanagement.

McNeill's concluding remarks reiterated the Labour commitment to alleviating austerity impacts, attributing continued NHS strains in Scotland to squandered opportunities by the SNP leadership.

60% of donations to Labour Health from private healthcare-related sources totaling £372,000.

Used to question Labour’s impartiality and implications for public healthcare.

Outcome

The debate did not lead to any immediate policy changes, but it emphasized Scottish NHS management issues while questioning political accountability and strategic priorities. The discourse highlighted partisan divides on NHS funding management and operational successes across borders.

Key Contributions

Irene Campbell

Labour

Focuses on discussions with the Scottish Government about NHS funding impacts due to the Barnett Formula.

Kirsty McNeill

Credits the Labour government for significant financial settlements via the Barnett formula.

Seamus Logan

SNP

Highlights the efforts and importance of NHS staff, countering mismanagement claims.

Original Transcript

Irene Campbell

North Ayrshire and Arran

Lab

Question

UIN: 903742

3. What recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the impact of the Barnett formula on funding for the NHS in Scotland.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland

Kirsty McNeill

11:47

Thanks to the Barnett formula, a Labour Chancellor and 37 Scottish Labour MPs, Scotland’s public services have received the biggest ever financial settlement from the UK Government, but how has the SNP spent it?

Well, despite the best efforts of our extraordinary NHS staff, every week, thousands of Scots will wait more than eight hours in A&E, and more than 100,000 Scots have been stuck on an NHS waiting list for over a year.

Doctors, nurses and—most of all—Scottish patients have been failed by 18 years of SNP mismanagement. We desperately need a new direction.

Irene Campbell

11:48

There has been a noticeable increase in the number of people contacting my office about accessing GP services, and about long waiting times for hospital appointments and operations.

Those who live in the Isle of Arran and actually get an appointment often cannot get to it, because they cannot get a ferry there and back on the same day. That is a different point, but as a former manager in the NHS, I have seen the consequences of the shortage of GPs in Scotland.

There has been a recent successful recruitment campaign in different parts of England; does the Minister agree that it is time for the Scottish Government to utilise the Barnett consequentials in order to improve access to NHS services in Scotland through robust workforce planning, and to follow the example of the NHS in England and get GPs successfully recruited?

Kirsty McNeill

11:48

I thank my hon. Friend, not just for her service to her constituents but her previous service in the NHS. As she has noted, thanks to Labour, NHS waiting lists in England have fallen month on month, because this Government have a plan and we have invested.

Sadly, it is a completely different story in Scotland, as she has pointed out. Like mine, her constituents see a situation in which almost one in six people are now stuck on a waiting list.

John Swinney has announced this SNP Government’s fifth NHS recovery plan in less than four years, but patients and staff know that it is not good enough, and we need a new direction.

Seamus Logan

Aberdeenshire North and Moray East

SNP

The Minister is right to speak of the wonderful NHS staff that we have, but she also speaks of a new direction that is required. Let me give the House a clue as to what new direction she might be speaking of.

The Good Law Project revealed this month that more than 60% of donations to Labour’s Health Secretary, totalling £372,000, came from individuals and companies linked to the private healthcare sector.

As the same Labour Health Secretary is so fond of saying, all roads lead to Westminster, including on NHS funding. With cuts to public services coming down the line, is the Secretary of State—or the Minister—worried about the influence of private health donors on Cabinet colleagues?

Kirsty McNeill

11:49

The hon. Gentleman says that there have been cuts to public services. Let me put on record once again that this Labour Government pledged to end austerity, and we have, with a record settlement for Scotland’s public services.

That money has been squandered by the SNP Government, such that we are still in a situation where nearly one in six Scots are on a waiting list. South of the border, waiting lists have fallen for the fifth month in a row.

That is the difference made by a Labour Government with a plan and a willingness to fund it.

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