Ex-health minister blames governments for state of NHS

Jeane Freeman said politicians had failed to seek the views of clinicians "because politics gets in the way of it"

Former health secretary Jeanne Freeman has said the current state of the NHS in Scotland is the result of failures by successive governments – including her own.

Freeman said politicians never took a long-term view beyond the next election on how the service should be managed and improved.

She said governments had failed to seek the views of NHS staff "because politics gets in the way of it".

Her comments come after First Minister John Swinney accepted that "some people have had to wait far too long" for certain treatment.

Swinney has pledged to make it easier to get GP appointments but said there was no "shortcut" to faster diagnosis and treatment in the NHS.

Freeman, who was health secretary from 2018 to 2021, told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that politicians "look for what they need to do in order to remain in power or to gain power".

"The problem with that is the substance of issues can get lost because what we're actually talking about is, what do I need to do to remain in power as opposed to what do I need to do to fix this?," she added.

The NHS is still working to recover from the Covid pandemic and, as of June, about one in nine people in Scotland is on an NHS waiting list.

The most recent Scottish social attitudes study found that 69% of those asked felt that NHS performance was getting worse.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine also claimed that more than 800 deaths in Scotland last year were believed to be linked to long A&E waits.

The government has been criticised over waiting times at Accident and Emergency departments

During a special report on the NHS, Freeman told The Sunday Show: "Successive governments – my own included – do not take a long-term, beyond-the-electoral-cycle view of our health service.

"They do not take a view that says some of the people who best know what we need to do are actually our clinical and frontline teams."

She said a key to improving the health service was "don't leave it to the politicians" and to gather "widespread" views from clinical teams.

"I'm including the housekeeping, the janitorial, the booking staff, the maintenance, as well as the consultants, the doctors, the nurses, physios and others," she added.

"Get them to sit down and work out what they think needs to be done in order to allow them to deliver a better service.

"I would put money on the fact that actually they know that they have some of the answers already."

Extra funding for GP surgeries

Earlier this year, the first minister pledged his government would bring down NHS waiting lists and make it easier to get GP appointments.

The latest official Public Health Scotland figures show that, as of 30 September 2025, there were an estimated 628,696 people on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting list. This is equivalent to about one in nine of Scotland's population

Scotland's current health secretary has since announced an extra £531m will be allocated to recruit staff in GP surgeries over the next three years.

Neil Gray said the investment would make it easier for people to access GP services and help deliver digital prescriptions.

Earlier this year, the British Medical Association (BMA) entered a formal dispute with the Scottish government over the share of the health budget allocated to GP surgeries.

The BMA said the share had fallen against inflation every year since 2008 and that £290m was needed to fix the gap.

The latest funding for GPs is subject to future budgets being agreed.

However, the Scottish government said it would initially provide £98m in the 2026-27 budget, £183m the following year, and £249m in the third year.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "We are investing a record £21.7bn in health and social care this year, targeting areas with the longest waits, tackling backlogs, and ensuring patients get the care they need faster.

"Through our Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework and our 10-year Population Health Framework we have set out a collective long-term approach to reform and renewal of health and social care.

"These were shaped through engagement with clinical leaders and system partners to ensure they are grounded in the realities of service delivery.

"We continue to work closely with health and care professionals to ensure services are sustainable, responsive, and focused on improving outcomes for patients across Scotland."

You can hear the first part of the special report on the NHS on The Sunday Show on BBC Radio Scotland at 11:30.