An NHS fit for the future

To be the best again our health service will need solid funding and a Scottish Government prepared to tackle issues that have been allowed to drift down the agenda for too long.

Transformed mental health

Around one in four people in Scotland will have a mental health problem at some time in their life. Yet, under the SNP, the share of the budget devoted to mental health went down.

Teenagers have to wait up to a year for urgent treatment;

Businesses lose millions of days from staff sick with mental health problems.

That's why we'll transform the way we approach mental health in Scotland and invest with more staff and easier access to services.

More GPs working in a safe NHS

Scotland is facing a GP crisis. There have been stark warnings of a serious shortfall of family doctors by 2020.

People in every community are already seeing the consequences, with short-staffing at surgeries and long waits for appointments.

That's why we'll increase the proportion of NHS funding allocated to primary care. We will train, recruit and retain more GPs and we’ll increase the number of support staff – nurses, allied health professionals and counsellors – to give patients the best treatment close to home.

An NHS that’s the best again

Our investment in mental health services, GPs, alongside the joining up of health and social care will be underpinned by solid real-terms funding for the NHS.

These will put the Scottish NHS on a strong footing for the future.

We'll also give doctors, nurses, other health professionals and pharmacists greater freedom to help patients and improve services. We’ll reduce the burden of detailed targets that get in the way of effective clinical treatment.