NHS Scotland’s most senior leaders say they are willing to consider greater use of private providers to take pressure of stretched services – though stressed this cannot a long-term solution.

While the First Minister has committed to keep the NHS free and in public hands, the public audit committee has heard that NHS chiefs are “open to doing whatever is necessary” to reduce waiting lists.

Committee member Jamie Greene MSP asked whether NHS Scotland is open to drafting in private companies to help address the longest waits, saying that £100m promised by the Scottish government “isn’t going to scratch the surface”.

NHS Scotland Chief Executive and Director General for Health and Social Care Caroline Lamb told MSPs that while that delivering improvements will involve a range of measures:

“Planned care is particularly challenged because that area was worst hit during the pandemic – we’ve still not been able to recover from that backlog.

“Improving our capacity includes innovations such as theatre scheduling and is about developing a more sustainable approach while having secured this investment to bring lists down.

“We are really open to doing whatever is necessary to bring down waiting lists as long as we can be assured of the cost-effectiveness.

“We are currently focusing on what can be achieved using NHS capacity and we have mobile units provided by independent providers which are part of the solution to bringing down diagnostic waits.”

NHS Scotland Chief Operating Officer John Burns told the committee that independent providers already operate within the NHS, but Scotland will not rely on them for long-term change.

He said private providers have been utilised “periodically” to help deliver mobile units for CT and MR scans, adding:

“At the moment, we have around 10 units across Scotland and that’s been enormously helpful in supporting access.

“We’re also looking at how we build sustainability into the NHS because we cannot rely on that as a long-term model.

“So, as part of our diagnostic plan, we’re very much looking at not just how do we bring the backlog down – that’s important – but also build sustainability going forward?

“We’re taking a parallel approach here to ensure we’re looking at sustainability.”

However, the BMA has warned Scotland is “sleepwalking” into private healthcare, calling for action to protect an NHS that is free at the point of use as long waits are already forcing people to turn to private providers.

A Scottish government spokesperson told healthandcare.scot that the government is currently focusing on improving capacity within health boards through its National Treatment Centres:

“We recognise that for many, waits for treatments are far too long and we will reduce waiting times ensuring that by March 2026 no one is waiting longer than a year for their treatment. We will increase capacity through the National Treatment Centres across Scotland and use sites in health boards to protect planned care activity for specific specialities. 

“At present we are focusing on what can be achieved using NHS capacity but remain open to doing whatever is necessary to bring down waiting lists as long as we can be assured of the cost-effectiveness.”

Read more: First Minister unveils NHS renewal plans; Current metrics fail to capture full NHS activity; Partnership working for Scotland’s population health; NHS will “struggle to see out” 2025, say doctors; NHS is not a ‘political football’, warns BMA; Corridor care ‘the norm' in struggling hospitals; NHS Scotland: waiting lists and beyond