MOST doctors in Scotland believe NHS services have deteriorated in the past year and fear that inadequate resources are jeopardising the safety and quality of patient care, according to the result of a survey published today.
The leader of the BMA in Scotland, Dr Peter Bennie, warned that NHS Scotland must aim higher than the “very low bar” of being better than England.
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Dr Bennie also stressed that without a significant funding increase the NHS "will not be able to offer comprehensive care within a decade".
Dr Bennie will outline his concerns in a speech at the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting in Brighton today.
It comes as thousands of NHS staff in Scotland earning up to £80,000 were offered minimum pay rises of at least nine per cent cumulatively over three years, which the Scottish Government said would make Scottish NHS staff "significantly better paid than NHS staff anywhere else in the UK".
A Band 6 paramedic at the top of their grade would earn £1280 a year more in Scotland than England, while the salary for ward nurse at the top of Band 4 would be £800 more per year than their colleague in England.
Staff earning £80,000 and over will receive a flat rate increase of £1,600 a year.
The offer applies to NHS staff on 'Agenda for Change' contracts, including nurses, midwives, porters, paramedics, clerical staff and allied healthcare professionals such as psychologists and physiotherapists.
It does not apply to dentists, doctors, senior managers and GPs.
The proposals, which are linked to potential reforms of some terms and conditions, including sickness absence, will be put to staff in a consultation lasting between July 2 and August 15.
Meanwhile, the survey by the BMA of nearly a thousand Scottish doctors found 71 per cent felt overall NHS services had worsened over the past year.
Two thirds also said resources were inadequate and "significantly affecting the quality and safety of care", while nine in 10 doctors said staffing shortages were hampering patient care.
Dr Bennie said that while the responses of Scottish doctors were slightly less negative than medics in other parts of the UK, the results exposed the "stark reality of a profession pushed to the brink".
He said: "We are stretched to the limit of what we are capable of. Perhaps we have not quite reached the dire working conditions and morale seen in England, but we are clinging by our fingertips from sliding down a similar path."
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Dr Bennie called for an end to "the obsession with a narrow range of targets that tell us little about outcomes for patients", and also warned that the recently announced boost in NHS funding "will be insufficient to move NHS Scotland to a fully sustainable footing for the longer term".
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that by 2023 NHS England would receive £20 billion a year extra from higher taxes, borrowing and a 'Brexit bonus'. It translates to around £2bn extra for public services in Scotland, under the Barnett formula.
Economists from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Health Foundation, who forecast that above inflation annual funding increases of four per cent were the minimum required to allow the NHS to advance and modernise, warned the package fell far short and would mean "ongoing and severe problems in public health and staffing" with little improvement in key areas such as mental health or cancer care.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said last night that businesses should "stump up the funds" to pay for the NHS and urged Philip Hammond to cancel planned cuts to corporation tax.
Mr McConnell said the policy - which has already seen corporation tax cut from 28 per cent in 2010 to 19 per cent - had led to firms "hoarding" £700 billion in corporate cash holdings, a 40 per cent real terms increase since 2010.
The Scottish Government said health spending is at a record £13bn, and 7.5 per cent higher per head than England.
It expects to raise more than £1bn extra for public services by the end of 2022/23 through Scotland's adjusted income tax bands, in addition to any extra funding under Barnett.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "Our investment has taken NHS funding to record high levels, and we continue to push the UK Government to deliver a net benefit to Scotland’s budget following their recent NHS funding announcement.
“We’re committed to taking forward a programme of investment and reform in our health service – including offering a pay rise of at least nine per cent over the next three years to the over 147,000 staff covered by the Agenda for Change system in NHS Scotland."
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