Gray 'open to ideas' about future of NHS in Scotland

Scotland's health secretary is "open to ideas" about NHS reform but vowed it would remain in public hands and free at the point of delivery.

Neil Gray also told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show John Swinney's leadership was an opportunity for the Scottish government to "refocus" its priorities.

Earlier, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said she wanted to boost the Scottish economy and pledged to get it "firing on all cylinders".

But Labour's Jackie Baillie said John Swinney's new cabinet offered continuity rather than change and warned NHS patients and staff were continuing to be let down.

And Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane called on Mr Gray to be "honest" about the scale of the challenge facing the health service.

Mr Gray said he had briefed cabinet colleagues on the future of the NHS and hoped to lead a Holyrood debate on the subject later this month.

He told the programme: "I am relatively open to ideas as long as they don't cross the red lines that I have - but also that I think the people of Scotland have - around making sure that our NHS remains in public hands and free at the point of use.

"Aside from that I am relatively pragmatic around what else we can do to drive that improvement and sustainability for our health service."

The health secretary said he wanted to harness innovation and technology from the private sector to benefit the NHS.

Mr Gray, who succeeded Michael Matheson in February, added the government was investing in reducing waiting list times.

He said: "I acknowledge that for too many people they are waiting too long and that is unacceptable."

The minister also said he wanted to continue to work with the British Medical Association to reach a "sustainable pay offer" for junior doctors.

Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Cass is a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics

And Mr Gray pledged to reflect on the recommendations of Dr Hilary Cass, who last week said Scotland could benefit from adopting a more "holistic" approach to gender services in relation to children.

Mr Swinney was elected SNP leader unopposed last week following the resignation of Humza Yousaf.

He was formally sworn in as Scotland's seventh first minister on Wednesday but later confirmed a largely unchanged cabinet, with the exception of Ms Forbes.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the ex-finance secretary said she left the backbenches and returned to government "to get stuff done".

She said: "Everything is an economic policy - tackling poverty, reaching net zero, raising the revenue to invest in our public services.

"The plan is simple. Get the economy firing on all cylinders, and it will power a better future."

Mr Gray also said ministers would seek to build consensus following the collapse of the Bute House Agreement with the Greens.

He said: "John Swinney's leadership is an opportunity for us to refocus, for us to make sure that we are focused in on the priorities of the people of Scotland.

"That's what minority government also does by making sure that we are reaching out across the parliament and finding consensus."

Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie later criticised the government's health record.

She told The Sunday Show: "I don't doubt people’s ambition to bring down waiting lists, but the fact is they’ve failed.

"We’ve had the SNP in charge for 17 years - what we’ve got now is a continuity first minister, a continuity cabinet, because it’s largely the same faces sitting round the table.

"The people who have been in charge of the NHS are still the same party and the same people."

Dame Jackie, who is also the party's health spokeswoman, called for greater investment in primary and social care, including hiring more GPs, and better workforce planning.

She added: "We’re letting down patients across Scotland, but we’re also letting down the staff who do such a tremendous job but without the support and resources that they require.

"It isn't just about throwing more money at it, we need to drive efficiency through the NHS and the staff are the very ones who actually have the ideas about how to do that."

Dr Gulhane, of the Scottish Conservatives, said: "If Neil Gray is going to fix the mess the SNP has made of the NHS, he needs to be honest about the scale of the challenge.

"His claim that waiting times are coming down is fooling no one.

"On A&E, cancer treatment, delayed discharge and cancelled ops things are getting worse, which is a damning indictment of both the SNP’s dire workforce planning and Humza Yousaf’s flimsy Covid recovery plan."

The practising GP also warned the higher taxes imposed by the SNP were an obstacle to recruiting and retaining more medics.

And he urged ministers to follow the Cass review on gender care rather than "ignorant ideology".