SCOTTISH NHS staff gathered in the country’s biggest city on Saturday to “demand more” for the health service from Westminster.
Protestors were taking part in a UK-wide day of action aimed at “speaking up” for the service amidst what organisers call a “national emergency” over resources and staffing.
Held in the central location of Glasgow’s George Square, the event was organised by nurse Ashley McFarlane, and was one of around 60 public demonstrations across the UK, as part of the SOS NHS campaign.
McFarlane told the Sunday National: “While healthcare in Scotland is devolved in terms of how money is spent, the money still has to come from Westminster and the issues within the NHS are nation-wide and affect us here in Scotland too."
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“It’s important for people in Scotland to have the opportunity to voice their concerns and demonstrate that they expect more and demand more of their government to protect the NHS.
“I had to take this opportunity to try and draw attention to the true extent of the NHS crisis, and thought that by joining with multiple demonstrations up and down the country that it might help rally support and inspire and empower others to be involved.
“We are currently on the edge of a parapet.”
Involving trade unions and other groups, SOS NHS is calling for billions in emergency funding for health services, and a guarantee that care will remain free for future generations. That’s against a backdrop of sustained debate over the direction of the NHS as a result of Brexit and other issues, including the PPE procurement scandal. Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser, has accused the UK Government of pursuing efforts to “effectively privatise the NHS by stealth”.
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NHS SOS is also calling for “fair pay” for the workforce, something it says could remedy staffing shortages. In Scotland, nurses were awarded an average increase of around 4% at the last time of uplift. The rate was higher than the 3% applied in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
More than one third of the total Scottish Budget was spent on health in 2020-21, amounting to £18 billion. In a report last week, watchdog Audit Scotland called rising spending on the health service “unsustainable” and warned of an “ever-increasing backlog of patients waiting to be seen”. An additional £2.9bn was allocated in 2020-21 across health and social care, including £1.7bn for health boards.
Responding to that report, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, above, said Covid had placed the NHS “under the most severe pressure in its 73-year existence” and staffing levels had “reached a record high”.
However, McFarlane says pandemic exhaustion and high workloads means there is “very little morale left” amongst staff. She said: “We are so incredibly lucky to have a public health service, to not have wealth determine our health, and we cannot lose that.
“Our NHS has the potential to be a world-class service. The workers have the skills, experience, passion and love for the NHS, but the government need to recognise its potential and properly invest in protecting its people and patients.”
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