EXCLUSIVE: More than 14,000 patients in Scotland have quit NHS waiting lists in recent years and opted to pay for private medical treatment, figures show.
Thousands of Scots are "emptying their savings" to pay for healthcare because the SNP has failed to reduce NHS backlogs, Labour has warned.
Writing in his regular column for the Record, Anas Sarwar warned the NHS was "sleepwalking towards sacrificing the principle of an NHS free at the point of use". "This is the bleak new reality emerging after 17 years of SNP mismanagement – those who can, upturn their lives to fund private payment, while those who can’t are left behind."
"The UK Labour government is providing the funding for 160,000 additional appointments to reduce waiting lists but it’s up to the SNP not to fritter that money away on sticking plaster approaches.
Labour Party Scottish National Party SNP Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar
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