POLITICIANS are being warned against making "unrealistic promises about the NHS" before next year's Holyrood elections.
In a hard-hitting speech Dr Peter Bennie, chair of the Scottish Council of the British Medical Association (BMA), is expected to tell a major UK conference that the parties must not make unfunded pledges and need to concentrate on securing the long term future of the health service.
He is also expected to attack the decision to release weekly information about how long patients spend queuing in Scotland's accident and emergency departments, demanding a rethink of NHS targets.
An outline of his speech, due to be given at the major annual conference of the British Medical Association today, was released in advance of his taking to the podium.
It revealed Dr Bennie would encourage politicians to avoid playing games with the NHS in the run up to the Scottish elections in 2016.
He is expected to say: "Hot on the heels of last year's referendum and the recent UK general election where health issues were prominent, we are now gearing up for the next election campaign, this time for the Scottish Parliament where decisions about health and the NHS in Scotland are actually made.
"I want to encourage politicians to avoid falling into the much-too-easy trap of making unqualified, unfunded and unrealistic promises about the NHS.
"I would urge each of the parties to think clearly about what needs to change for the NHS to be sustainable for the long term - not just the next five years."
The Scottish Government is planning to discuss the future of the health service with patients and staff nationwide this summer - a move Dr Bennie's speech describes as encouraging.
But he calls for a rethink of the targets the Scottish Government has set for the NHS, saying weekly data showing the proportion of patients dealt with in four hours by A&E departments "misses the point".
Dr Bennie will say: "The problems that exist within our hospitals extend far beyond the front door and we need to look at the whole patient journey. Are patients being admitted to the right wards, not boarded internally or miles away? Are they discharged when they're ready to go home and do they get the support they need to live at home and avoid unnecessary readmission?
"That is what is important. Not the weekly accusations flung across the parliament chamber as each party seeks to blame the other for the problems in the NHS."
If targets continue, he says, they must be about improving how well patients do rather than remaining "an expensive obsession with reducing waiting times, irrespective of patients' best interests."
The BMA conference is currently taking place in Liverpool and Dr Bennie unexpectedly spent 24 hours in hospital himself there this week. He describes the commitment, professionalism and good humour of that staff he met there as "inspirational".
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "While the A&E target is clinically important and supported by clinicians, we completely agree with the BMA that it is far from the only measure on which our NHS should be judged.
"We are also in agreement that looking at the whole system of health and social care - not one part in isolation - is crucial.
"We are committed to listening to views and leading a nationwide conversation about the long-term future of our NHS. By working together, across professionals, the public and politicians, I am confident we can build consensus and ensure our NHS continues to provide a world-class service for the people of Scotland for generations to come."
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