Scottish Labour pledges to end SNP ‘dither and delay’ on NHS app

Scottish Labour has pledged to “end the SNP’s dither and delay” and said they will deliver a functional NHS app within a year if they win the Holyrood elections.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he would make the NHS “fit for the future” as he would deliver a functioning NHS app as a priority.

Under Scottish Labour’s plans they said a Scotland-wide app would be available within the first 100 days in every health board area, allowing patients to see their records and get health advice.

Within a year they would aim for patients to be able to use this app to book GP appointments and order prescriptions.

Mr Sarwar said “After nearly two decades of SNP Government, hospital staff are still relying on pagers, GPs are using fax machines and patients are still waiting for a working NHS app.

“John Swinney and the SNP can’t even get the basics right, let alone unleash the full potential of technology.

“A Scottish Labour government led by me will embrace cutting edge technology and use it to make our NHS fit for the future.

“We will end the SNP’s dither and delay and deliver an NHS app that actually works within a year.

“The choice in May is between an SNP government stuck in the past led by analogue John Swinney, or a government focussed on the future led by me.”

Scottish Labour said they would work with English and Welsh governments to adopt their apps for Scottish use if necessary.

The current Scottish app is limited to dermatology services in NHS Lanarkshire.

Scottish Labour Health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “Our NHS is on life support but the SNP has no vision or ideas for the future.

“The SNP’s failure to modernise our NHS is piling pressure on services and making it harder for patients to access the care they need.

“We need to embrace technology and the benefits it can deliver for patients – from delivering an app that actually works to upgrading the system and equipment our NHS relies on.”

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Scotland’s new app MyCare.scot will already start rolling out across the country from April, so Labour is desperately promising something the SNP is already set to deliver.

“Under the SNP our NHS is turning a corner, long waits are down for eight months in a row, GP numbers are up and this weekend we have pledged to double the number of walk-in GP clinics across Scotland to 30.

“We’ll take no lectures from the Labour Party who are cosying up to Tony Blair and who have serious questions to answer about the hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and unbridled access to patients’ data they’ve given to private tech firms through NHS England.

“While Labour plan to carve up our NHS, we are crystal clear that under the SNP our NHS will never be for sale and we’ll continue to get on with delivering for the people of Scotland.