SNP urges Chancellor to deliver £1.6bn in extra funding for Scotland’s NHS

The Chancellor is being urged to deliver a funding boost of at least £16 billion to the NHS in this year’s budget in a move the SNP says would see an extra £1.6 billion come to Scotland.

The party said its research found the UK Government has spent less on healthcare than nearly every other country in north-west Europe since the start of the millennium.

The analysis, based on data from the OECD, found on average the UK spent around £1,045 (19%) less per person than its neighbours between 2000 and 2023.

Westminster spent £7,963 per capita in 2022, which amounted to 40% less than Norway, 29% less than Germany and 11% less than France.

The only country which spent less than the UK was Finland, on £7,420 per capita.

For the eight countries where data was available for 2023, the UK spent 19% (£1,986) less than other nearby nations.

The SNP said if Labour delivered an extra £16 billion through Rachel Reeves’s Budget later this month, it would amount to another £238 per person each year.

According to the research though, Britain would likely remain in second-last place.

The fund would deliver roughly £1.6 billion to Holyrood through Barnett consequentials, which gives the equivalent cash to Scotland when money is spent in England.

Seamus Logan, the SNP’s health spokesperson at Westminster, said the statistics show the NHS needs more money.

“The UK Government has chronically underfunded the NHS for more than a decade,” he said, “and as a result it has restricted the funding available for healthcare in Scotland and every part of the UK.

“There is no escaping the fact that the NHS needs more money.

“The Chancellor must deliver a major funding boost of at least £16 billion a year for the NHS at the UK budget, which would deliver an additional £1.6 billion for NHS Scotland.”

Mr Logan cited a report in September by independent peer and NHS surgeon Lord Darzi that found austerity during the 2010s had weakened the NHS.

“It must be an urgent wake-up call for the Labour Government,” he said.

“The fact that the UK Government has lagged behind our European neighbours on health spending in every year of the 21st century shows that more can and must be done – and a £16 billion increase would begin to close the gap.

“The NHS needs investment if it is to deliver the best possible healthcare.

“Hospitals won’t build themselves, the best medication and equipment won’t buy itself, and you can’t recruit more doctors and nurses, or reduce waiting lists, without adequate investment.

“If the Labour Government continues to impose austerity cuts it will damage the NHS in every part of the UK by starving our public services of the investment they need.

“As Wes Streeting said – all roads lead back to Westminster. It’s vital the Chancellor delivers investment now.”

The plea from the SNP comes as the gap between revenue and spending by the Scottish Government is forecast to grow from £1 billion in 2024-25 to £1.9 billion by 2027-28.

In September, Scotland’s Finance Secretary announced up to £500 million worth of spending cuts as she sought to balance her budget for the year ahead.

Shona Robison also confirmed the use of up to £460 million of cash raised from the ScotWind scheme, where parts of the Scottish seabed were leased out for offshore wind farms.

The UK Government’s Autumn Budget will be delivered by the Chancellor on October 30.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned the Budget will be “painful” and that things will “get worse before they get better”.

He said the previous UK Government left a surprise £22 billion financial black hole, which he also said was the reason for his controversial decision to cut Winter Fuel Payments to all but the poorest pensioners.

The benefit was later axed in Scotland, with the Scottish Government saying it had lost up to £160 million as a result of Sir Keir’s decision south of the border.

The UK Government has been approached for comment.