Scotland’s Doctors Unveil Their ‘Priorities For Health’

NHS reform should be based on clinical need rather than political point scoring say Scotland’s doctors. This is just one of the Priorities for Health that the BMA is prescribing for Scotland’s political parties as they prepare to go to the polls for the 2007 elections. Priorities for Health is BMA Scotland’s election manifesto, which outlines the policies and principles that doctors believe will improve Scotland’s health and health services. The report is based on a survey of doctors in Scotland and presents a series of proposals for public health, NHS reform and the medical workforce.

For the first time, the BMA has outlined its proposals for the principles and policies that direct NHS reform:

• Seven out of ten doctors believe that, following years of upheaval in the NHS, there should be a delay on any further structural reform.
• 97% believe that it is important to focus on developing policies for the long term, allowing time services to evolve.
• 98% of doctors believe that waiting times should be based on clinical need, not political targets.
• 95% of doctors say that only when there is demonstrable evidence that reform will improve patient care, should it go ahead.

There is a growing emphasis on developing more choice for patients, but the BMA says that patients should be given ‘real’ choices. Seven out of ten doctors say that current policies that offer patients a choice of where they receive their treatment are not as important as involving and informing them about their treatment options. 86% believe that this kind of choice is more important to patients. However, doctors also said that a lack of funding, shortages of medical staff and bureaucracy all created barriers to offering greater choice.

Speaking at the launch of the manifesto, Dr Peter Terry, chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said: “Health and healthcare is a top political priority and it is important that politicians standing in the 2007 elections understand the current and future issues that will impact on the NHS. “Doctors don’t want the health service to be driven by political targets they want it to be focussed on delivering change to benefit the quality and delivery of services to patients; giving an element of control back to those who deliver and use the services.

“In each of the four countries of the UK, the NHS is undergoing reform. We are seeing the damage that untested reform is having on the health service in England and we must not go down that route. It is important that reform of the NHS in Scotland is done in partnership with the public and health professionals to ensure that policy objectives benefit services for the good of patient care.”

More than two thirds (69%) of doctors believe that smoking is still the most important public health issue for Scotland, followed closely by tackling the problems of alcohol misuse which contributes to one in 30 of all deaths in Scotland1. Doctors believe that tougher enforcement of age restrictions for sale of cigarettes and alcohol and better education to raise awareness of the significant harm to health caused by smoking and drinking to excess.

Dr Terry said: “Scotland’s doctors welcome recent efforts to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles. But it’s not necessarily the sole responsibility of politicians and doctors to solve the public health problems we have in Scotland. Individuals must also take responsibility for their own choices. Equipping the public with the information and power to make decisions about their lifestyles and, where appropriate, legislating to protect the public health, can all have a positive impact on health.”

More than half (58%) of doctors believe that there is a shortage of doctors in the NHS in Scotland. A quarter of them reported medical vacancies in their GP practice or hospital department. More than half (54%) of these vacancies have existed for six months or longer.

Dr Terry said: “Doctors are at the heart of the NHS: treating patients, improving patient care, educating future professionals, transferring new knowledge into service improvements and redesigning care in a more patient centred way. But supply does not match demand. There is an urgent need to develop and implement plans to increase the number of doctors in Scotland. The medical profession must be valued, further invested in and freed from political interference to work with other professionals, managers and patients to improve care across the NHS.”