NHS stats body, ISD Scotland, has revealed that in cash terms, expenditure on the NHS has risen from £10.44bn in 2013/14 to £12.02bn in 2017/18. Spending on primary care services such as GPs, pharmacy, dental and ophthalmic services saw a real terms drop of 0.4 per cent compared to 2016/17.
The College said:
The cost of running the Scottish NHS rose to £12bn in 2017-18, indicating that we are spending around £1.5bn more than we were 5 years ago. Taking inflation into account, we see a 1% cost increase, in real terms, on 2016-17. A range of factors may explain this increase, including people living for longer with multiple health conditions, costs associated with new drugs and treatments, funding to facilitate the integration of health and social care, and increasing staff costs. For the NHS to survive financially, a proper funding plan must be in place. We look forward to The Scottish Government’s draft budget announcement in December, where we expect that the Finance Secretary will provide detail in this regard for 2019/20.
1. The full report, Scottish Health Service Costs 2017-18, can be found on the ISD website: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Finance/Publications/2018-11-2...
