Funding for Scotland’s NHS boards will increase to £17.6 billion in the coming financial year if the Scottish government’s draft budget goes through in its current form.

The health and social care portfolio, by far the largest area of government spending, increases overall by 3.7% to £22.5 billion. This represents an increase of some £800 million on last year’s £21.7 billion.

Addressing the Scottish parliament, Finance Secretary Shona Robison MSP said of the addition funding:

“It means our health service will have the resources it needs to continue reducing waiting times, to continue cutting waiting lists – and I commend our NHS staff for the work they are doing right now to cut the longest waits, something now achieved for six months in a row.”

Ms Robison said more money will be available to for NHS staff, to be spent on wages, training and wellbeing.

In the draft budget document published this afternoon, ministers say ‘bold and ambitious reform is essential to address the challenges facing health and social care: to improve the health of the population and to deliver sustainable services’.

Two key priorities for the health secretary are to reduce the time people wait for appointments and procedures, and to shift the balance of care from hospital to community settings.

The budget commits the government to:

‘…implementing and scaling productivity and efficiency gains to create additional capacity, develop national and sub national plans for specific specialities and continue to expand the number of Hospital at Home beds by at least 2,000 by December 2026.’

Spending on primary care will see the first £98 million of additional funding for general practice from the £531 million three-year deal announced last year.

Ministers say they will provide a further £36 million to establish new high street GP walk‑in centres to increase the number of patients who can see a healthcare professional on the same day.

Although there is no update on the delivery of the network of national treatment centres, the government says it will kick off a £500 million programme of investment in primary and community care infrastructure to create ‘a network of local care and wellbeing centres across Scotland’.

NHS Territorial Boards will receive £15.5 billion, an increase of £1.1 billion from their allocation in Ms Robison’s Autumn Budget Revision last September, which is 12% more than in the budget this time last year.

NHS National Boards such as the Scottish Ambulance Service and National Services Scotland receive an uplift of £274 million on last September’s funding allocation.

Unlike last year, a detailed breakdown of funding for areas such as health research, genomics and supporting life sciences was not published today alongside the overall figures.

Social care pay

In her speech, Ms Robison linked investment in social care with the effectiveness of the NHS:

“Today’s budget will enable further action to reduce delayed discharges as the Health Secretary will set out following engagement with local government and health and social care partners.

“It also provides the resources needed to ensure that, where we commission services, those working in adult social care receive as a minimum the real living wage.”

Last October, the new real living wage rate from May 2026 was set at £13.45 per hour – an increase of 85p per hour on 2025-2026, but still £1.55 an hour short of the £15 that unions, and some Scottish political parties previously, have been calling for.

In response

The local government organisation COSLA this evening published a ‘budget reality’ table showing the gap between what councils need to spend and what they are currently being allocated.

The organisation says it had told government that councils needed £16 billion, including an additional £750m for social care, but Mr Robison’s budget was some £1 billion short of that figure.

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer called it “a budget on electioneering steroids” which she said lacks the real investment in communities that is needed:

“This applies to our social care sector too.

“It’s immensely disappointing that again the Scottish government have let our social carers badly down with their intransigence on meeting the £15 per hour which would value our carers as skilled workers and address both record delayed discharge levels and the exodus of staff in the sector. You can’t fix social care without fixing low pay in the sector. That starts with sectoral collective bargaining.”

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) welcomed the prioritisation of health and social care services, but Chief Officer Sara Redmond said the draft budget does not address the funding challenges for the voluntary sector:

“The ALLIANCE is particularly concerned about the long term sustainability of the third and charitable sector, which delivers essential public services on behalf of, or that complement, statutory organisations including the NHS.

“Our members have told us how Scotland’s third sector is now stretched beyond its limit. If immediate, substantial progress is not made on fair funding for the sector, the Scottish government risks undermining its own aspirations on health, wellbeing and public service reform, as well as negatively impacting on the human rights to health and participation in society.”

Next steps

A note published by the Scottish Parliament Information Service, sets out the timeline for the budget to be finalised.

Detailed scrutiny will begin next week by parliamentary committees who are being asked to report back more quickly than usual so that a final vote can take place on 25 February.

As Ms Foy points out, the government – and all parties – have one eye on the May Scottish parliament election.

The spending plans of the other parties will emerge in the coming months.

 

Read more: Gray: Funding will come to shift balance of care; Half billion pound GP investment ‘largest ever’; Clinicians: who will deliver extra appointments?; Health and care in the Scottish budget

Sign up to receive our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.