NHS's founding principle is not up for debate - Nicola Sturgeon

The NHS's founding principle of universality is not up for debate or discussion, Scotland's first minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon was responding after BBC news reported that health executives had discussed the idea that the wealthier in society paying could pay for some treatments.

She said: “I will be absolutely crystal clear, as the democratically elected first minister of the country, that the founding principles of our National Health Service – that it is a universal service, free at the point of use, publicly funded, publicly delivered for all – these principle were not up for debate or discussion.

"The NHS here in Scotland, like health services across the world as we come out of the pandemic, faces very significant pressure. And that is why service redesign and service reform, that is an ongoing priority to make sure that patients get speedy access to high quality treatment, but that is a process that will take place - for as long as I have got anything to do with it - within the confines of these founding principles.”