NHS Scotland chiefs discuss having wealthy pay for treatment

NHS leaders in Scotland have discussed abandoning the founding principles of the service by having the wealthy pay for treatment.

The discussion of a “two-tier” health service is mentioned in draft minutes of a meeting of NHS Scotland health board chief executives in September.

They also raise the possibility of curtailing some free prescriptions.

Scotland’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf insisted the NHS would stay publicly owned and publicly operated.

He added that health services “must always” be based on individual patient need and “any suggestion” that it should be about the ability to pay was “abhorrent”.

The minutes of the meeting seen by BBC News are marked “in confidence not for onward sharing” and highlight the degree of official concern about the sustainability of Scotland’s NHS in its present form.

They include suggestions that hospitals should change their appetite for risk by aiming to send patients home more quickly, and pause the funding of some new drugs.

According to the minutes, the meeting began with an update about “recent conversations” with NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb.

The group were then advised that they had been given the “green light to present what boards feel reform may look like” and that “areas which were previously not viable options are now possibilities”.

Describing a “billion pound hole” in the budget, the minutes warn that it “is not possible to continue to run the range of programmes” the NHS currently offers while remaining safe “and doing no harm.” And they warn that: “Unscheduled care is going to fall over in the near term before planned care falls over.”

The minutes note “concern” about an alleged lack of clinical input into political decision-making which, they say, leaves some Scottish government suggestions feeling “divorced from reality of life and purpose of service.”

Last month the BMA in Scotland said Scotland’s NHS was in a “perilous situation” and urgent action was needed to tackle work load pressures. Official figures show about 6,000 nursing and midwifery posts are unfilled while A&E waiting time targets continue to be missed.

The meeting minutes go on to highlight an alleged “disconnect from the pressure that the boards are feeling and the message from SG [Scottish government] that everything is still a priority and to be done within budget”.

They also state: “Concern was noted that there may be siloed discussions ongoing within Scottish government that do not include CMO/CNO (Chief Medical/Nursing Officer).”

There is a suggestion that “fundamental reform” of the primary care model “must be on the table”, and that the success of the NHS has been built on a model “that no longer works today”.

However, in a statement to the BBC, Mr Yousaf said: “The Scottish government’s policy could not be clearer, our National Health Service must be maintained to the founding principles of Bevan – publicly owned, publicly operated, and free at the point of need.”

Growing numbers of people are already delving into their savings because they can’t stand the anxiety and pain of waiting for the NHS.

And there have already been clear warnings from doctors and nursing staff that things are unsafe and standards have dropped.

Why? Because there are not enough staff to meet ever growing demand

Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that reform is being discussed at the very highest level. But to see in black and white such radical ideas from NHS chief executives – even contemplating things like designing a two-tier system or pausing spending on drugs development – is extraordinary.

To see them spell out a disconnect between NHS leaders and the Scottish government shows how worried they are that the message to the public that the health service is not working as it should, is not getting through.

When I first started out reporting on health issues over five years ago now, doctors said there has to be a frank public conversation about what we can expect from the NHS.

These may be draft notes – not firm proposals – but it shows how fundamental some of the changes being discussed are.

The NHS was established on 5 July 1948 after Labour Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan promised “a universal health service without any insurance qualifications of any sort…available to the whole population freely”.

But controversial charges for dental and eye care were introduced within three years, contributing to Bevan’s resignation from the government.

In recent years health services across the UK have been beset by immense challenges including the Covid pandemic, an ageing population and staffing shortages.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in his Autumn Statement on Thursday that the country must ask “challenging questions” on how to reform all public services for the better, including the NHS.

He was speaking as Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told Holyrood that the pressure on the NHS is greater than it has ever been at any point in its history, but the amount the Scottish government is able to invest in the health service is dependent on decisions taken at Westminster.

The minutes of the NHS Scotland meeting summarise “themes, issues and ideas” during 45 minutes of discussions on Wednesday, 21 September, about “what a transformed NHS could look like”.

They ask “what can be done with the financial constraints that we have?”, and point out that some members of the public “are already making the choice to pay privately” while the NHS is “picking up the cost for life enhancing not life-saving treatments”.

It is in that context that the suggestion to “design in a two-tier system where the people who can afford to go private,” appears.

At one point the minutes note that it is “almost easier to identify what it is not possible to do anymore than what is/will be”.

There is a proposal to change “the risk appetite from what we see in hospitals,” suggesting a target for patients to be discharged to their home for treatment after a maximum of 23 hours.

“It is not gold standard but what other countries can do without an NHS,” it adds.

According to the draft minutes, other points noted at the meeting included:

The health secretary said he routinely meets with the Scottish government’s senior clinical team, which is led by the Chief Medical Officer.

Mr Yousaf, who praised the “exceptional work” of NHS staff, added: “There is also frequent engagement between ministers and NHS board chief executives, and daily discussions between the Scottish government and individual health boards on service performance and pressures.

“Our NHS and care services continually evolve to meet the changing needs of the people of Scotland, and reflect changes in practice and medicine. In our five-year NHS Recovery Plan we have outlined our commitment to continued investment and reform of the NHS, alongside delivering the National Care Service.”

The minutes of the September meeting also detail discussions about the government’s proposed National Care Service (NCS), and state that: “There are a group within SG who recognise that it may not be possible to provide what it was initially proposed within NCS.

“Their challenge is how to get off that promise and do something different.”

They also suggest that “£800m for NCS does not make sense” given the huge funding challenges for the NHS,

In recent weeks ministers have been under pressure about exactly how the new care service would work and be funded.

In its final section the minutes include a suggestion that clearer priorities must be established for the NHS.

“Everything is a top priority, what is the real focus?” they ask, with the summary of the discussions concluding, bluntly: “The fundamental model of healthcare is not working for us.”