SCOTLAND's health budget could be hit by changes being proposed by the UK Government, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has warned.

The Deputy First Minister admitted yesterday there was a "very real risk" to the Scottish NHS in an amendment tabled to the health bill at Westminster

Ms Sturgeon told the SNP conference in Glasgow it would allow hospitals in England to use up to 49% of their beds and operating theatre time treating private patients.

She said the danger to Scotland was not in policy terms – "we will never go down that road" – but financial.

She said: "As hospitals in England get more of their money from private patients, I believe that we will see future UK Governments freeze or reduce public funding for the NHS.

"They will still claim that NHS funding is protected, but the reality will be that less of it will come from the public purse."

Because of the Barnett System's effect on the funding of Scotland from Westminster that would mean there would be a direct effect on Scotland's budget, she said.

Ms Sturgeon added: "Devolution allows us to protect the principles of our NHS.

"But if we want to make sure that Tory health policies can't damage our health service in any way, we need independence."

In a hard-hitting speech, Ms Sturgeon also attacked Westminster policies which she said would hit the vulnerable badly.

She said: "Only independence can stop Westminster governments squandering our energy wealth while our older folk struggle to pay their heating bills.

"Only independence can put a stop to heartless Tory welfare reforms that will punish the vulnerable and the disabled.

"And only independence will give us the tools we need to rid Scotland of the poverty and deprivation that still scars our nation and create the jobs and opportunities that will get people off benefits, not for Tory reasons, but for the right reasons."

The Health Secretary also used her speech to attack the Labour Party as the only party resisting attempts to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol.

Holyrood will debate Stage One of the legislation on Wednesday, but Ms Sturgeon said Labour MSPs preferred "abject isolation to common sense".

She said: "Deaf to the arguments of health professionals, blind to the damage that cheap alcohol is doing to our communities, Labour is still putting petty political posturing ahead of protecting public health. They should be completely and utterly ashamed of themselves."

She also urged the alcohol industry not to delay the introduction of the legislation by tying it up in the courts, particularly as she had introduced a sunset clause which would allow it to be tested in practice and give parliament a right to review it after five years.

She said: "Let us all respect the will of parliament, let us turn this policy into practice and let us get on with the job of sorting out this nation's relationship with alcohol."

Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said Ms Sturgeon's praise for the Scottish NHS during her speech "made a great case for devolution and the people of Scotland will be asking why we would jeopardise that by separating from the United Kingdom".

She said: "The SNP say they are protecting the NHS yet we are losing midwives and nurses everyday and our hospitals are crumbling.

"They say they are tackling alcohol yet refuse to listen to any other measures beyond their obsession with minimum pricing and handing the supermarkets a £100 million windfall.

"Everyone agrees that the UK Government's approach to welfare reform is wrong but it's not enough for the Deputy First Minister to just have a pop at the Tories."