A Real Winter Recovery Plan for our NHS
Nicola Sturgeon’s hopeless health secretary is sleepwalking into Scotland’s “worst-ever winter”. The NHS has lurched from crisis to crisis under the disastrous mismanagement of Humza Yousaf. His flimsy winter recovery plan has done nothing to address the challenges facing the Health Service. Now delayed discharge, treatment backlogs and A&E waiting times are all at record highs.
The Scottish Conservatives have released an alternative NHS winter recovery plan, to get things back on track. Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary and practising GP, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, has proposed a series of innovative and practical policies to help improve efficiency and alleviate the immense pressure on our health service. These bold, detailed plans would help both staff and patients alike, and ensure that our NHS survives this challenging winter.
Our headline policies:
- Introducing new crisis maximum waiting times. This would set a floor that patients could expect to wait for treatment during winter and would be backed up by sanctions on health boards who breach these targets.
- Running ‘Super Saturdays’ to make better use of facilities and clear backlogs. Health boards would choose a single type of treatment or operation to be exclusively carried out that day.
We have published a real recovery plan today with ideas to tackle some of the winter pressures on our NHS.
📑 Super Saturdays – would make better use of facilities and clear backlogs with health boards choosing a single type of operation to be exclusively carried out that day. pic.twitter.com/FG7FuOGRZM
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) December 12, 2022
- Increasing GP capacity by introducing a full Electronic Repeat Prescription system. This would effectively copy current prescriptions without the need for them to be signed again – saving GPs 250,000 hours a year, the equivalent of up to 1.5 million appointments.
- Set up a winter network of mobile testing and drive-through facilities. This would set up Covid testing-style units for CT scans, blood tests and Electrocardiograms (ECGs).
📑 Mobile Testing and Drive-through Facilities – This would set up Covid testing-style units for CT scans, blood tests and Electrocardiograms (ECGs).
Find Out More Here 👇🏻 https://t.co/rYi0TIPcS2 pic.twitter.com/ta1HiDG5lX
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) December 12, 2022
- Introduce an NHS Care App to allow patients to see live hospital waiting times. This would allow patients to help the NHS manage demand and see where they are in the queue for operations.
📑 NHS Care App – to allow patients to see live hospital waiting times.
This would allow patients to help the NHS manage demand and see where they are in the queue for operations.
Find Out More Here 👇🏻 https://t.co/rYi0TIPcS2 pic.twitter.com/A7NFcXrGMm
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) December 12, 2022
- Introduce ‘Prehab’ for those awaiting treatment. That means giving them information and support to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible, so that they are fit enough for treatment to be carried out.
- Roll out and expand Reach teams across all health boards. This would help elderly individuals to avoid having to return to hospital.
Read our alternative NHS winter recovery plan, here→
