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SCOTLAND’S Health Secretary Neil Gray is open to ideas about NHS reform but vowed it would remain in public hands and free at the point of delivery.
Neil Gray also told BBC that Scotland’s John Swinney’s leadership was an opportunity for the Scottish government to “refocus” its priorities. Earlier, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said she wanted to boost the Scottish economy and pledged to get it “firing on all cylinders”.
But Labour’s Jackie Baillie said Swinney’s new cabinet offered continuity rather than change and warned NHS patients and staff were continuing to be let down.
And Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh G u l h a n e called on Mr Gray to be “honest” about the scale of the c h a l l e n g e facing the health service. Gray said he had briefed cabinet colleagues on the future of the NHS and hoped to lead a Holyrood debate on the subject later this month.
He told the programme: “I am relatively open to ideas as long as they don’t cross the red lines that I have – but also that I think the people of Scotland have – around making sure that our NHS remains in public hands and free at the point of use.
“Aside from that I am relatively pragmatic around what else we can do to drive that improvement and sustainability for our health service.”
Gray said he wanted to harness innovation and technology from the private sector to benefit the NHS. He added the government was investing in reducing waiting list times. The minister also said he wanted to continue to work with the British Medical Association to reach a “sustainable pay offer” for junior doctors.
