The SNP is extremely grateful to Chron’s and Colitis UK for its hard work, particularly in developing the national blueprint for IBD in Scotland, remains committed to working with them and other partners to raise awareness of this important issue in Scotland.
The Scottish Government have made significant progress in reducing waiting times over the last few years but we know that progress has been interrupted by the pandemic and we have seen a significant increase in the numbers of patients waiting for routine appointments and treatments.
Through its modernising patient pathways programme, the SNP Scottish Government has been working closely with health boards and Crohn’s and Colitis UK in recent years to improve IBD services, pathways and patient outcomes across Scotland. That includes the development of a series of self-management tools, care plans, a mobile app, supporting the pilot of a new specialist IBD community nurse model, and trialling flare cards.
If re-elected, the SNP will implement an NHS Recovery Plan, backed by a 20% increase in investment in frontline health services. This will deliver an above inflation increase in NHS spending over the next Parliament of at least £2.5 billion.
Within this we’re going to increase primary care spending by 25%, and ensure that community health services get at least half of all NHS frontline investment.
Fiona Hyslop