There are lots of ways in which the private sector can be involved in health care.
Not all of them are a threat. As long as the fundamental principle that NHS services should be free at the point of delivery is preserved, involving private providers is not necessarily wrong.
That, presumably, has been the SNP government's view. It has, after all, presided over the spending of £94.2 million on the treatment of NHS patients in the private sector in the last three years.
Anna Gregor is one of the most esteemed cancer doctors in Scotland and the UK, and argues it is wrong to assume all use of the private sector undermines the NHS.
More controversially, she also states it is a lie to argue a vote against independence will doom the Scottish NHS to privatisation.
The devolution settlement gave Scotland full control over NHS policy, she points out, and the evidence we can take a different approach to that taken south of the Border is there in the fact that we already have.
She is critical of the scaremongering she argues has taken place and the effect that it is having on some vulnerable patients.
As the leader of many patient safety policies in the Scottish NHS as well as having led on Scotland's cancer strategy, hers is a voice worth listening to.
There are noteworthy voices advancing an alternative argument, of course. Dr Philippa Whitford, a consultant breast surgeon, has been among the most prominent voices arguing for a Yes vote to safeguard the future of the NHS in Scotland. They have not proved their case.
The argument is that, as more and more services in the English NHS are contracted out to private providers, the budget will drop and,as a consequence, Scotland's health budget will suffer under the Barnett formula.
But there is a faulty logic here which cannot be ignored. Services paid for in the private sector are still bought from the health budget - no-one is proposing patients pay for NHS services. It is not a given that the budget will drop.
It is equally misleading to suggest a Yes vote threatens the NHS because Scotland currently spends £200 per head more on the NHS. This is a policy choice by the Scottish Parliament and a proper consequence of devolution.
Sadly, as with much of the debate, negativity and distortion, fear and threat appear to be the prominent features.We have heard very little from either side about their vision for a stronger, more effective NHS.
This holds for many other areas of the independence debate, but as Dr Gregor points out is particularly a problem in health policy.
One of our most pressing issues, as The Herald has highlighted, is how we organise the health and social care of older people in the face of major demographic challenges.
Whatever the referendum's outcome, the NHS needs to change and wrestle with new demands.
If the campaigns could bring this into focus and desist from reckless scaremongering, it would be greatly to Scotland's benefit.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article