A Healthy Nation?

The issue of the NHS can be a make or break decision for many when choosing who is best equipped to rule the country.

Our national health service is something that we can be immensely proud of, and I am happy to support a government that is deeply committed to continue investing heavily in a service that is so vital to the people of Scotland.

This month, the vision for the NHS was discussed on the floor of the Scottish Parliament highlighting the fact that the SNP has increased the NHS budget over time, with an additional £65 million recently announced for 2015/16.

Across the Banffshire and Buchan Coast, they will benefit from an extra £15.2 million allocated to NHS Grampian from this additional funding pot. This brings the total extra money that NHS Grampian will pick up for next year to £49.1 million, which represents a six per cent increase in funding from last year, the biggest percentage uplift of any mainland NHS board in Scotland.

When looking at the NHS in Scotland, it is telling to note that for 2014/15 all NHS Scotland boards are projected to break-even, but in Labour-run Wales NHS Wales bodies are projecting a deficit totalling £192 million. 

But although extra funding and encouraging statistics are to be welcomed, there is never any time to sit on one’s laurels when looking after the nation’s health.

For example, the NHS in Scotland already offers round the clock care and there is work ongoing to further improve the services available. Patients across Scotland already have access at any time of day to see a GP or another member of the Primary Services Medical Team. And there is ongoing work to ensure the NHS offers a genuinely seven day service where necessary, with a Task Force set up last year to look at improving services available out of hours. 

Delayed discharges are significantly lower than they were in 2006 but the most recent figures show that they are on the rise again. Therefore a further £100 million has been ploughed in to tackle this issue over the next three years.

When it comes down to it, the SNP is committed to the NHS remaining a publically-funded universal health service, free at the point of need. During the SNP’s stewardship of the NHS, prescription charges have been abolished and free eye tests protected – saving people with long-term conditions £104 per year compared with those in England.
 
It is to the credit of the SNP that public confidence lies with the ruling party in government.

How important do you think protecting
and improving the NHS is to …?
0 = not important at all; 10 = extremely important
Lord Ashcroft Polls

A recent poll commissioned by Lord Ashcroft asked respondents to rate on a scale of one to ten how important they consider protecting and improving the NHS to be to each political party.  The SNP achieved a rating of 7.04 – the highest in the UK – compared to Labour who are on 6.69 and the Tories who are on just 5.30.

Patient satisfaction with Scotland’s NHS has increased by over 20 per cent since 2005 according to the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2013. The survey found that 61 per cent of people in Scotland were either very or quite satisfied with the NHS in 2013. So the Scottish Government must be doing something right. But there is never any chance that the SNP have stopped striving for the very best in our health service.

But it is not all down to government investment – individuals also have to take responsibility for their wellbeing. Lifestyle choices have an unmistakeable impact on individual health. A health warning in The Herald recently stated that lack of exercise may be twice as deadly as obesity. A report from Public Health Wales indicates cot death risk is greater among families with smokers in them – so there is an element of personal responsibility that we cannot ignore.

One of the greatest achievements of the Labour Party was bringing into being the National Health Service in 1948. But before this, the Highlands and Islands (Medical Services) Grant Act 1913 was in place, which for 35 years was in essence a national health service, centrally funded and managed, for the Highlands and Islands. It put the first resident nurse on St Kilda in 1914, for example.

Scotland has traditionally led the way in how we deliver health services, free to people who need them today. Let us hope this continues for generations to come.

New Energy, New Opportunities for Scotland

2015 has blown in a massive boost for wind and solar power with new statistics revealing that last year was huge for the renewable energy industry in Scotland.

Figures have been published by Weather Energy with analysis by WWF Scotland showing that wind turbines provided enough energy to supply the electrical needs of 98 per cent of Scottish households – the equivalent of 2.36 million homes.

The data also highlights that December was a record breaking month for the industry as wind turbines generated enough power to supply over 100 per cent of Scottish households on 25 out of the 31 days in the month.

The findings are very encouraging for the future and well worth consideration as our country looks at all the options available for best harvesting our energy in the future.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in renewables and it is fantastic to see that this is making such a difference. Not only will this bolster our energy supply for future generations, but this will also help keep energy bills down – a welcome result for everyone at this time of year.

We hope that as this industry develops over time, buoyed and spurred on by statistics like these, more jobs and investment will be created and our carbon emissions will be significantly reduced.

However, good results are never an excuse to be complacent. Ideally the full powers of energy policy would be transferred to Scotland from Westminster, and the SNP will continue to fight for this so that the energy industry in our country meets our needs in the best possible way.

Breaking the renewable figures down even further with the help of WWF, the maximum output of wind turbines was on December 10, when generation was an estimated 65,970MWh – enough to supply 6.34 million homes for the whole day – which is the equivalent of 262 per cent of all Scottish households.

Wind generated enough power to supply over 100 per cent of Scottish households during six out of the 12 months – January, February, March, October, November, and December.

In 2014 as a whole, on average, wind power generated enough to supply the electrical needs of 98 per cent of Scottish households, with six months where the amount was greater than 100 per cent. And, in the tens of thousands of Scottish households that have installed solar panels, this met two-thirds or more of their electricity or hot water needs from the sun during several months of the year, helping those homes reduce their reliance on coal, gas, or oil.

Without wanting to overdose on figures, it’s vital to note that these results signal that millions of tonnes of climate-wreaking carbon emissions were avoided over the course of 2014. It is so important that Scotland continues to steam ahead this year with plans to create even greater amounts of clean energy.

Scotland is leading the way on wind power within the UK and in Europe, and is generating excellent results on sun-loving renewables also. The data has shown that there is plenty of sunshine to meet a large proportion of an average family’s electricity needs for most months of the year.

2015 looks set to be a year when Scotland will once again punch above its weight – let’s do everything we can to get results that will make every new year one that is marked by cleaner energy, and better for the people of Scotland.