the model of the nhs whereby care is free at the point of delivery. james, you talked about the context in which these comments were made, tell us a bit more about the context of the pressures that the nhs in scotland is facing? well, the pressures that the nhs in scotland is facing are, to be honest, quite similar to the pressures being faced by health services across the uk. i think the prime minister has recently acknowledged that, saying that there is pretty much universal pressure on the health systems in all of the home nations. and indeed, that is the case in scotland. clearly there is a very, very serious crisis unfolding in our nhs, i don t think there is any doubt about that, speaking to doctors, senior clinicians, nurses, about that, speaking to them in the past few weeks, speaking to patients as well, i have spoken to a lot of people who paint a picture thatis pretty bleak, of a health service which is struggling, struggling with funding, struggling with staffing, strugglin
minute there is a strong suggestion from the scottish government that some of them won t, but let s go through them. the most controversial, that idea that there could be a two tier health service, that the wealthier patients would have to pay for their treatment, pay the nhs directly for their treatment. 0ther the nhs directly for their treatment. other ideas, a suggestion that scriptures which are funded by the state in scotland for everyone, that some of that could be curtailed, that for example the funding of certain new drugs could be stopped, and also that patients could be sent home earlier from hospital, although the minutes acknowledge that that would require tolerance of greater risk in hospital. so, quite a lot of controversial suggestions, but the scottish government keen to point out that they are still committed to the model of the nhs whereby care is free at the point of delivery. james, you talked about the context in which these comments were made, tell us a bit more a