Leaked minutes of a high-level meeting between NHS bosses in Scotland reveal a debate on whether to introduce a 'two-tier system' as hospitals struggle to meet demand.
Humza Yousaf has insisted the NHS in Scotland will stick to its "founding principles" and will not start charging patients for treatment.
Yousaf said: "The Scottish Government’s policy could not be clearer, our National Health Service must be maintained to the founding principles of Bevan – publicly owned, publicly operated, and free at the point of need. But the minutes of the meeting accept that “it is not gold standard but what other countries can do without an NHS”.
"Our NHS and care services continually evolve to meet the changing needs of the people of Scotland, and reflect changes in practice and medicine. In our five-year NHS Recovery Plan we have outlined our commitment to continued investment and reform of the NHS, alongside delivering the National Care Service.
Scottish Labour branded Yousaf "the worst health secretary in the history of the Scottish Parliament" and has called on him to resign ahead of what the party feared could turn into a humanitarian crisis in the NHS this winter.
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