'Astronomical' NHS maintenance backlog highlighted by Scottish Tories
Information obtained by freedom of information requests shows £1.5billion worth of repairs needed at Scotland's NHS buildings
Scotland’s NHS buildings require £1.5 billion worth of repairs, with taxpayers set to foot the bill, according to figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
The party claims the figure, obtained through freedom of information requests, had swelled by around a third since 2017/18, when the maintenance backlog was £1.2billion.
Sandesh Gulhane, the party's health spokesman, described the £1.55 billion backlog as "absolutely jaw-dropping" and has called on Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to "guarantee our health boards will have all the resources they need" to help reduce the backlog.
"It is scarcely believable that the backlog bill facing our NHS has now hit such an astronomical figure of over £1.5 billion," he said.
NHS Fife facing biggest bill - but Scottish Government disputes the figure
NHS Fife had the biggest backlog, with £553 million worth of work waiting to be completed in 2021/22, the Scottish Conservatives said. Over the last five years, the party's data said, their maintenance backlog had increased by 72%.
But the Scottish Government said the data was inaccurate.
A spokesman said: "The maintenance backlog at NHS Fife is £90 million - not £550 million."
Meanwhile, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland's largest health board, had a backlog of £393 million, the Scottish Tories said.
At NHS Tayside more than 70% of the maintenance backlog cost has been categorised as being either "significant risk" or "high risk".
And the party said that across Scotland several buildings had been closed due to structural concerns, including one in NHS Borders being decommissioned because of subsidence, and East House at Glasgow's Gartnavel Royal Hospital vacant due to structural issues.
'Years of chronic underfunding'
Speaking to Forth 1 News Mr Gulhane said that "far too many of our crucial health service sites have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and it is appalling that as a result many repairs are now deemed significant or high risk".
"Our NHS is already under huge financial strain and this ever-increasing repair bill can be directly linked to years of chronic underfunding from successive SNP health secretaries," he said.
"These repairs need to be carried out urgently or else we risk patients having treatments and operations cancelled, adding to the already record-high waiting times.”
The Scottish Conservatives, who collected the past five years of data from the country's 14 health boards, also said NHS Lothian the backlog had more than doubled since the start of the pandemic.
Scottish Government set to invest over £1billion on refurbishments
It said at the end of the 2020/21 financial year, the maintenance backlog at NHS Lothian would cost £52.9 million. NHS Grampian had a backlog worth £182 million, which was about £2 million lower than 2020/21.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are fully supportive of the need to properly maintain and invest in our existing estate and are doubling annual funding for maintenance.
"We will invest over £1 billion in enhancing or refurbishing existing health facilities, and updating and modernising medical equipment that is essential for delivering high quality medical services."