5 Comments
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Sheena Kilpatrick's avatar

Thanks for your comment. The points you’ve made are spot on. If we don’t have the correct underpinnings in place but simply continue to make ‘surface’ changes the system will never be resilient or flexible enough to cope with required change, whether that arises from increasing demand, new treatments, different ways of working or one of the many other pressures the system finds itself facing.

Scotland Explained's avatar

I really welcome this approach. Whatever people’s constitutional views, it’s valuable to discuss how healthcare would actually be governed rather than assuming better outcomes simply follow from constitutional change.

One area I’d be interested in seeing explored further is institutional capability. Alongside questions of funding and powers, how do we build the organisations, skills, procurement systems, data capability and long-term stewardship needed to deliver better healthcare over decades? For me, that’s where lasting resilience comes from.

Yes Skye's avatar

Hi Sheena This is a great piece of work, and I have shared to Yes Skye & Lochalsh and Yes Highlands and Islands. Is there an email address, to send contributions to, as was the case with Jim's paper on Foreign Policy?

Yes Skye's avatar

admin@yesunited.scot for any comments, counter arguments, positive feedback etc

Ian Davidson's avatar

Excellent paper. Aside from funding & presumption against privatisation, agree that health policy should be non party political and evidence based. Reform will take decades to fully implement given the long lead times for training consultants & major capital plus public health education & services. Social care complex, Common Weal have produced much on this in an attempt to widen the narrow view that social care is a mere adjunct of health. What to do about Big Pharmacy and impact on health budgets?