Health & Social Care

A record number of GPs are now working in Scotland and the SNP in government is committed to increase that number further. We’ve also confirmed the location of new walk-in GP clinics, to further improve access to GPs for the people of Scotland.

Following record investment in frontline services by the SNP Scotland’s NHS is performing more procedures, GP numbers are rising and waiting times are coming down. We promised to bring down waiting lists, and that’s exactly what this SNP Government is doing.

Following the unprecedented pressures of the coronavirus pandemic the SNP committed to reforming and inspiring the current healthcare system. Privatisation will have no place in reform of the NHS under the SNP and the NHS will remain free at the point of need.

The SNP is committed to sustaining and improving patient access to NHS dental services, with NHS registration is significantly higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, with more than 95% of Scotland’s population registered with an NHS dentist.

Unlike other parts of the UK, adults in Scotland who have been assessed as requiring personal care do not pay for this service, regardless of their condition or means. Plus nursing care is also free at the point of delivery.

Women’s Health is key priority for the SNP in government which is why Scotland was the first country in the UK to publish an ambitious Women’s Health Plan in August 2021. The Plan sets out actions which aim to address women’s health inequalities.

Our world leading Minimum Unit Pricing policy is one of the measures we know can make a difference in tackling alcohol-related harm. Alcohol harm is a public health priority, and the SNP will continue to channel our energy towards reducing harm further.

The number of deaths caused by drug misuse fell by 13% to 1,017 last year – the lowest level registered since 2017. As the Scottish Government the SNP has taken action through its £250 million National Mission on Drugs.

The SNP is committed to creating a tobacco‑free Scotland by 2034, with Scotland already having world‑leading tobacco‑control measures, with smoking rates continuing to decline. Along with the other UK nations we have worked together to deliver this decline.

The SNP, as the Scottish Government, has invested £125 million to enable adult social care workers in the third and private sectors to be paid at least the Real Living Wage rate. This takes the overall total investment to deliver this policy to over £950 million.

Improving health and supporting people to eat well and have a healthy weight is a public health priority. We need to address the high levels of excess weight, obesity and poor diet we know are contributing to worsening trends in Scotland’s health.

Cancer remains a national health priority within the SNP. As the Scottish Government we published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three-year Cancer Action Plan with an overall ambition to improve survival.

There are more key staff in our NHS, including a near 20% increase in the number of nurses and midwives since the SNP came to office. Nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff continue to be the best paid in the UK.

Scotland faces the real risk tthat Westminster post-Brexit trade deals with Donald Trump’s United States will open the NHS to multinational US health companies. Only independence can protect our NHS from this threat.

The SNP has a track record of investment in mental health services in the face of the most difficult set of financial circumstances and constrictions that we have had in the history of devolution.