NHS Scotland runs up almost £400m deficit in six months

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today warned that rising NHS deficits must be tackled before they lead to service cuts, as a letter from the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland revealed that health boards are facing a forecast deficit of £395 million.

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee, NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb said: "The consolidated position for all NHS Boards at month six of 2023-24 is a forecast deficit of £395 million".  

She went on to say that she had: "made clear my expectations of all NHS Boards, the scale of the deficit must reduce and I expect the 3% recurring savings target to be worked towards both in 2023-24 and 2024-25 "  

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“This is as clear a warning as there could be that hospitals and health boards are overstretched. People will be worried that this dire outlook will mean cuts to services and even longer waits.

“We need to fix the mess that the NHS has been left in by the SNP because the crisis risks spiralling out of all control.

“Humza Yousaf was health secretary for years as these problems stacked up. He needs to take a share of the blame and order his ministers to get to work repairing the health service before patients and staff pay an even greater price."