The Scotsman Bulletin Tuesday June 24 2025 #NHS #IsraelIranConflict

The Scotsman

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Tuesday.

00:04My name is Dale Miller, I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman

00:07and I'm joined by our political editor, Alistair Grant.

00:11And Alistair, we've got a significant story in the NHS to talk through,

00:15but just firstly, the front page of today's Scotsman.

00:19Really unavoidable to go past the ongoing situation in the Middle East,

00:24which is developing rapidly.

00:25It has developed again just before midnight, moving things on from the front page of the year.

00:31We know that Iran launched some missiles against the US base in Qatar on Monday evening.

00:40It was then announced by Donald Trump at about between 11.30pm and midnight UK time

00:46that he had negotiated a ceasefire between Iran and Israel,

00:53both sides, Iran and Israel, filed missiles up until the time that the ceasefire was due to come into effect.

01:03And now there are conflicting reports over whether Iran has broken that ceasefire

01:08by firing further artillery on Tuesday morning.

01:12As I said, it's an ongoing developing situation.

01:14Also, Sir Keir Starmer appears set to confirm that the UK will boost defence spending to 5% of GDP.

01:24There are ongoing discussions around NATO leaders or involving NATO leaders today,

01:29and we're expecting further confirmation about that.

01:32But it will be a significant uplift in spending.

01:35No details yet as to exactly how that will be paid for.

01:38But you can read the full story from Rachel Amory on the subject at scotsman.com right now.

01:45Alistair, outside of the situation in the Middle East, which continues to evolve,

01:50it seems every half an hour there seems to be an update on it.

01:56The NHS, it's an ongoing issue, and the Chair of BMA Scotland

02:00has some strong comments to make about the situation.

02:05Yeah, some very strong language from the Chair of BMA Scotland, Dr Ian Kennedy.

02:10Today, he was basically warning that the NHS is, in his words,

02:14dying before our very eyes.

02:16This is on the back of a survey that BMA Scotland commissioned

02:20definitely partnership the pollsters to carry out on their behalf,

02:24which found that 29% or a third of Scots, almost a third of Scots,

02:28said they or someone else from their household

02:31had had to use private care in the past two years.

02:35And Dr Kennedy saying that this makes it abundantly clear

02:38that there's now a divide in Scotland

02:40between those who can afford to go private

02:41and those who have to languish on NHS waiting lists.

02:46And I think it's quite striking, actually,

02:48if you kind of drilled into some of the details

02:49of that survey by Diffley Partnership

02:52of just over 1,000 Scottish adults.

02:5417% of respondents said they'd accessed private medical care

02:58in the past two years.

03:0014% said a member of their household had.

03:0364% of those who reported accessing private care

03:07for either themselves or someone in their household

03:10said it was because NHS waiting lists were too long.

03:14And of those who accessed private care,

03:1645% said they used personal savings.

03:1920% said they had to cut back on leisure activities.

03:219% had to cut back on essential items

03:24such as energy and groceries.

03:27So quite striking figures about the scale

03:29of people going private in terms of their healthcare

03:32because, or at least naming the reason,

03:35is because of NHS waiting lists.

03:37This is something that BMA Scotland have raised repeatedly,

03:40the kind of privatisation through the back door

03:42of the health service and concerns that

03:44the NHS is becoming something of a two-tier,

03:46or the health service, sorry,

03:48is becoming something of a two-tier system.

03:49And Dr Kennedy, who's talking at a kind of wider meeting

03:53down in Liverpool today,

03:54that's why these kind of comments have come out,

03:57he's expected to say that the NHS should be free

04:01at the point of need,

04:02but this research shows that Scots are basically forced

04:08to go private because waiting lists are too long.

04:11They can't get the timely care they need.

04:13And he's saying it'll only get worse

04:14because 43% of those surveyed feel

04:16they're now more likely to go private.

04:20So quite striking figures, really,

04:22and a kind of eye-opening example

04:23of some of the problems in our health service

04:25that we've covered a lot in the Scotsman

04:26and that have been featured in headlines

04:28for a long time now.

04:29Alistair, we know John Swinney and his government,

04:35they've certainly made noises and announcements

04:38about putting extra money that they've received

04:40by consequentials into the NHS service

04:42and what they're going to do in terms

04:44of increasing access to appointments.

04:48It's clear there's still ongoing problems

04:50with the public health service.

04:52How big an issue is this going to be in the run-up

04:55to next year's election, do you think?

04:57I think it'll be a really big issue.

04:59I mean, I was just getting up some of the comments

05:00that the Scottish government said

05:01in response to this story

05:03that we and others have ran today.

05:05And they're pointing out that

05:07they've invested a record 21.7 billion

05:10in health and social care this year,

05:12including 106 million

05:14to deliver over 150,000 additional appointments

05:17and procedures.

05:18In the kind of broader sense,

05:20the Scottish government is always pointing out

05:21that the slice of money

05:23that goes towards health and social care

05:25is an increasingly large part

05:28of the overall Scottish budget.

05:29So it's not for lack of putting money into the system.

05:32But on the other hand,

05:34BMA Scotland and others would say

05:35that the entire NHS needs radical reform

05:38and that no one is kind of doing

05:39what is required essentially.

05:41But I think this will be a really big issue

05:42going into the Scottish Parliament election next year.

05:46Certainly it would be something

05:47that Scottish Labour leader Anna Sarwar majors a lot on.

05:50We've seen reports in the last couple of days

05:51that Labour has been going to the Tony Blair Institute

05:54to try and get some ideas

05:55about things that can be done

05:57to streamline the Scottish health service,

05:59to improve things like waiting lists,

06:02which seem to just be getting longer and longer

06:05with every passing week.

06:07So it's something that Anna Sarwar really wants to highlight

06:09because for him,

06:10that Scottish election,

06:12the narrative that he will want to pursue

06:14is that the Scottish government

06:15has overseen failing public services,

06:17that things like the health service,

06:19things like education are not what they should be.

06:22Whereas the Scottish government

06:23might want to make more of the narrative

06:25about the UK government

06:26and people's disillusionment with Labour,

06:28people's disillusionment with Keir Starmer.

06:30So it's sort of going to be a battle

06:32of the narratives really,

06:34but Scottish Labour will certainly want to

06:36repeatedly highlight the state of the NHS,

06:39repeatedly highlight what they say

06:40needs to be done to improve things.

06:42And I think as we go into that election,

06:44we'll be hearing a lot more about this.

06:45You can read the full report

06:49from Alistair at scotsman.com.

06:51If you can't immediately find it,

06:53just go to either the politics

06:54or health tabs in the navigation bar.

06:57Scottish Labour deputy leader,

07:00Dame Jackie Bailey,

07:01who's a regular columnist for us,

07:02will be writing about this subject as well.

07:05You'll be able to read the opinion piece

07:06from her on the site later today.

07:09Now, please follow us

07:10for all your latest on politics.

07:12You can go to the politics tab,

07:14as I've said,

07:15accessible via the homepage

07:17to get the very latest.

07:19We'll be across the ongoing

07:21and developing situation

07:22in the Middle East throughout today.

07:24And if you want a full wrap

07:25of the latest news in print,

07:27you can pick up a copy of the Scotsman

07:29at newsstands tomorrow.

07:30Alistair, thanks to you.

07:31Thanks to everyone else for joining us.

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