The Wages of Continuity: Health Policy Under the SNP

Abstract

In government, the SNP has accentuated stability, public provision, and integration in health care and focused energy and patience in neglected ‘Cinderella’ policy areas such as mental health, public health, and health inequalities. This approach is not dissimilar to the policies of previous devolved Scottish governments. It makes Scotland an unusual kind of NHS system- one with stability and long-term focus on issues that are not obvious political winners. The SNP's successes in health come from building on, holding firm to, and developing this distinctively Scottish style of health policy.