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Scottish NHS ‘not sustainable’, says former chief

SCOTLAND’S health and social care system is “not sustainable in its present form,” a former NHS chief warned today.

Paul Gray, who headed the Scottish NHS between 2013 and 2019, made the comments in a post on the think tank Reform Scotland’s website.

Mr Gray went on to say that the need for structural change was “obvious” and that the “current approach to providing health and care services is not sustainable in its present form.”

“This isn’t because it is unsustainable in structure — it’s because it is underfunded.

“Low taxes and properly funded public services are pretty much mutually exclusive.

“The debate we need is far more about resourcing than structure.

“There are many changes we would welcome, a proper approach to workforce planning being among the most obvious.”   

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