26.01.11
£1bn pledge for NHS in Scotland
The NHS in Scotland will get a £1bn windfall if the SNP is returned to power in May, it has pledged.
The extra money would stand in contrast to retrenchment across the rest of the UK, the party said, as the NHS seeks to make huge savings while coping with rising demand and virtually frozen budgets.
First Minister Alex Salmond said: “There can be no better way to start a campaign than by making a pledge on the most important service of them all - that is the National Health Service.”
The party is trailing Labour in opinion polls and wants to make the NHS a key part of its campaign, relying on money received as a result of spending in England, known as Barnett consequentials.
Opposition parties said they would also protect NHS spending, and accused the SNP of “failing” the NHS.
Healthy Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told The Scotsman newspaper: “I believe this commitment puts us on the side of the public in Scotland.
”Poll after poll shows how important the NHS is to people – people do not want to see cuts to the NHS budget. We are on the side of people who care about and value the health service.”
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