Think Tank Warns Party Politics Are Risk To UK Health

SCOTLAND and England need to be much more co- operative when dealing with health concerns, rather than relying on ad-hoc arrangements which could be at risk from party politics, a report warns today.

Devolution has meant that the four nations of the UK have moved further apart when it comes to health policies, with Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon last week saying that there was a “battle of ideas” between Scotland and England.

But a report by health think-tank The Nuffield Trust said there were many issues, such as disease control and staff contract negotiations, where there had to be much more co-operation between governments.

The researchers highlighted a number of areas where lack of formal arrangements could cause problems in future.

One issue was disease control, where co-ordination between governments was described as “lackadaisical”, putting the UK at risk if there was a major outbreak of illness.

Alan Trench, a research fellow in the School of Law at Edinburgh University and one of the authors of the report, said they were keen to highlight issues where there might be conflict between the UK nations to avoid problems in the future.

Mr Trench said until now, liaison between Scotland and England had been easier because both countries had Labour governments.

“Because we don’t have that party link any more and that commonality of understanding that there was between Labour governments, there is the potential for the links to be broken down further.”

The report also said there were concerns about the way in which staff contracts are negotiated at a UK level, with no legal justification for them to be carried out this way.