The maintenance backlog facing Scotland’s NHS has hit £1.3 billion, new figures have revealed. A Freedom of Information request showed that the maintenance backlog had hit record levels.
It also marked a £200 million increase on the 2022 figures reported earlier this year by Audit Scotland. It comes after the Scottish Government announced in February that it was pausing all new NHS building projects – although a small number of these will receive funding if the Budget passes.
The Freedom of Information Request was made by the Scottish Tories. The party’s shadow health secretary Sandesh Gulhane said the scale of repairs are a “damning indictment” as to how the SNP have “shamefully neglected” Scotland’s health service for over 17 years.
Gulhane said: “The maintenance backlog costs facing Scotland’s NHS have hit staggering levels. In the space of a few months, this bill has escalated by over £200 million on the SNP’s watch. These figures are a damning indictment of how the Nationalists have shamefully neglected our health service over the past 17 years.
“Successive SNP health secretaries have had their eye off the ball and allowed crucial health care services to fall into a total state of disrepair which ultimately impacts patients and staff, as well as health boards’ budgets. In light of these figures, it is little wonder independent auditors think the SNP have no vision for our NHS when they can’t even support its basic upkeep.
“The eye-watering sum of money that is going to be needed to tackle these maintenance costs only takes more money away from the frontline where the SNP are overseeing record waiting lists and worsening A&E waiting times. Neil Gray needs to accept his current approach is not working and change it before these costs spiral completely out of control.”
All new NHS building projects in Scotland were put on hold in February. At least a dozen schemes across the country were delayed or paused for up to two years due to budget constraints.
But John Swinney announced in the Budget a few of the NHS projects which had been paused will receive funding. These are the replacement of the Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, the Belford hospital in Fort William, and Monklands hospital in Airdrie.
The Scottish Budget also announced an extra £2bn for the health service. This marked a record funding settlement for the health service in Scotland.
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, clickhere