19 Nov 2019
THE Scottish Conservatives have unveiled a banner today insisting that “Sick Kids Deserve Better” – at the site of the still-empty Royal Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh.
It comes on the 5th anniversary of Nicola Sturgeon’s election as First Minister, with the party using the general election campaign to focus on the SNP’s key failings on the NHS.
As well as the scandal of the empty Sick Kids hospital, the SNP has presided over a crisis in cancer care – as set out in yesterday’s damning cross party report – and created a waiting time guarantee that has never been met.
The Scottish Conservatives are today calling on SNP Ministers to use extra funding proposed by a future UK Conservative government to set out a long-term plan for Scotland’s NHS – rather than rely on “sticking plaster solutions”.
The party is also warning about the consequences of higher income taxes in Scotland which will deter medical staff from coming to Scotland from other parts of the UK.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said:
“Five years ago, Nicola Sturgeon was elected First Minister. Five years on, the Scottish NHS is lurching from crisis to crisis.”
“Nothing symbolizes her government’s failures better than the new Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh: over-budget and still not delivered.”
“Meanwhile, higher taxes in Scotland don’t help the NHS – they just deter well qualified medical staff from staying or coming to Scotland.”
“Hundreds of millions of pounds of extra investment for the NHS in Scotland has been guaranteed by a future UK Conservative government. Rather than using this cash to buy yet more sticking plaster, it is time that SNP Ministers came up with a plan that ensures we have the staff to cope with rising demand, and buildings that patients can trust”.
“Two more referendums in 2020 under a Labour – SNP Government alliance will do nothing to solve the mounting problems facing our Scottish NHS.”
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