Scotland's NHS 'crumbling' as £1.5bn maintenance backlog revealed
Scottish Labour says the figures reflect the SNP government’s mishandling of the NHS.
The Scottish Government is being accused of “letting Scotland’s NHS crumble” after new statistics revealed a maintenance backlog of over £1.5 billion.
It is estimated it would cost a whopping £1,549,777,788 to do all the required maintenance to the health service’s buildings across Scotland.
The single biggest bill is at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which has a maintenance backlog priced at £673,004,290.
This is followed by NHS Grampian on £214,967,133 and NHS Tayside on £124,495,577.
Other health boards have maintenance backlogs of £123,480,198.13 in NHS Lothian, £89,048,075.25 at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, £87,016,418 at NHS Highland, £80,039.201.44 at NHS Lanarkshire, £79m at NHS Fife, £32,172,687 at NHS Borders, £23,553,119.47 at NHS Forth Valley, and £18,397,734 at NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
At the island health boards, backlogs worth £3,959,355.55 were recorded at NHS Western Isles and £644,000 at NHS Orkney. NHS Shetland did not provide any data.
The figures were obtained by Scottish Labour, who say the repairs are a “symbol” of the SNP’s neglect of the NHS.
Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said: “The SNP has let our NHS crumble and patients and staff are paying the price.
“The sorry state of NHS buildings is a symbol of the SNP’s neglect of our entire NHS.
“The SNP has let our most treasured institution decline and the consequences are clear - sky-high waiting lists, chaos in A&E, an 8am rush for a GP and rising reliance on private healthcare.
“The truth is if the SNP knew how to fix our NHS it would be done by now.”
She added: “This year Scotland faces a direct choice - an NHS on life support with the SNP or an NHS fit for the future with Scottish Labour.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We are providing £139m additional investment this year in NHS infrastructure to increase core capital funding for boards and support priority improvements and replacements in Scotland s NHS estate.
“Historic real terms cuts to our block grant from the UK Government have put pressure on our capital budget, but despite this we have delivered various new healthcare facilities across the country.
“We are already working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan which will meet the needs of the NHS across the whole of Scotland, supporting continued safe operation of existing facilities and informing longer term investment priorities.”
The £1.5bn pricetag for the maintenance backlog is up from £1.335bn at the beginning of the year.
Data was published on the government’s website in January after a freedom of information request.
Over the summer NHS Dumfries and Galloway also announced it was letting the grass grow outside its sites as part of its efforts to reduce grounds maintenance. This was in response to the “unprecedented financial challenge” the health board was facing.
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