Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Bed closures are taking a massive toll on Scottish healthcare
The SNP government has failed to ensure people get healthcare, not just where they need it but when they need it, says GORDON McKAY

AN 83-year-old female relative of mine was admitted to hospital last month with a potentially life-threatening condition. 

The good news is that she got home last week and, when she did, she told me about her time in hospital. 

Her story was probably identical to ones that many, if not all of us have heard or indeed witnessed ourselves about the NHS. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
ALTERNATIVES: Al Amal (Hope) palliative care team, during the home-based care visit in 2021. Pic: Alamalrwanda/CC
Science and Society / 11 March 2026
11 March 2026

With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

First Minister John Swinney with medical staff Louise Kirkby (centre) and leading physiotherapist Karen Laird, during a visit to Falkirk Community Hospital in Falkirk, July 9, 2025
Scotland / 9 July 2025
9 July 2025
RELIEVING THE STRAIN: Could some version of ‘hospital at h
Features / 9 April 2025
9 April 2025
Born from my communist social worker mother’s efforts to bridge healthcare gaps, Labour’s push for home-based care now risks becoming another avenue for the US corporate takeover of the NHS, writes RICHARD CLARKE