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The bill
was passed on 30th April 1946 under the Labour government led by Clement
Attlee.
Local health care has come a long way since the
creation of the NHS and since the creation of the Scottish Parliament.
 Local
Labour MSP Allan Wilson was this week celebrating the sixtieth anniversary
since the passing of the National Health Service Bill, which created for the
first time free national health care for everyone.
The bill was passed on 30th April 1946 under the Labour government led by
Clement Attlee.
The Cunninghame North MSP said the establishment of a national health
service which provides healthcare for all, based on need and not ability to
pay, is one of the most important bills ever to be passed by any government.
Speaking about the anniversary, Allan Wilson MSP said;
“The creation of the NHS all those years ago is one of the Labour
government’s proudest achievements. In 1946, health care was a luxury not
everyone could afford, there were no new hospitals being built nor hundreds
of new doctors and nurses being employed.
“Whilst I recognise that there is still more to do to improve local services
for North Ayrshire residents, this anniversary is the ideal opportunity to
celebrate the creation of a service which for the first time provided free
health care to anyone who needed it, regardless of income.”
The MSP also used the opportunity to highlight the improvements in the NHS
since the creation of the Scottish Parliament, adding;
“Local health care has come a long way since the creation of the NHS and
since the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Waiting times for inpatient
and outpatient appointments have been greatly reduced, we have seen record
numbers of doctors, nurses and health care staff and an increase in local
services available to patients.”
Note:
· The NHS is treating more people, faster than ever before. Free at the
point of need, available to all.
· During the winter NHS waiting times went down to their lowest ever. Now,
no-one is waiting 18 months - 2 years for outpatient consultations or for
hospital inpatient and day case treatment - the national maximum waiting
times are 6 months. Maximum waiting times for heart investigation (coronary
angiography) were maintained at 8 weeks and for heart treatment (angioplasty
and hear bypass surgery) at 18 weeks.
· The Golden Jubilee National Hospital continued to make a major
contribution to reducing waiting times for patients from cross Scotland and
is on track to exceed its target of undertaking 25,000 procedures in 2005-06
· Thanks to the efforts of staff at all levels, NHS Scotland was able to
continue to deliver care to patients throughout the traditionally busy
winter months (NHS24 dealt with over 80,000 calls during the 8 day holiday
period over Christmas and New Year; Hospitals had to manage around 1000 more
emergency admissions during the first week in January than they did in the
last week of December)
By 2008 almost £10.3 billion will be invested in the NHS in Scotland.
· NHS Scotland will break even in 2005/06 and will have met its financial
targets.
· Most NHS Boards are living within budget. Compulsory redundancy is not on
boards' radar.
· NHS Scotland employs 154,000 staff - biggest employer in Scotland.
· There are 19,000 more staff in the NHS in Scotland than in 1997, and 4,200
more in the past year.
· We are continually looking to reduce bureaucracy, the move to single
system Boards is a clear example.
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