The BMA in Scotland has produced its own manifesto for the 2007 elections, outlining the policies and principles that doctors believe will improve Scotland’s health and health services.
The report, called Priorities for Health, is based on a survey of doctors in Scotland, 70 per cent of whom believe that there should be a delay on any further structural reform of the NHS.
Some 98 per cent of doctors believe that waiting times should be based on clinical need, not political targets. And 95 per cent of doctors said that only when there is demonstrable evidence that reform will improve patient care, should it go ahead.
Speaking at the launch of the manifesto, Dr Peter Terry, chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said: ‘We are seeing the damage that untested reform is having on the health service in England and we must not go down that route.
‘It is important that reform of the NHS in Scotland is done in partnership with the public and health professionals to ensure that policy objectives benefit services for the good of patient care.’
