Draft budget includes £17.6 billion for NHS Boards.
Almost £22.5 billion is being allocated to health and social care
to support a more sustainable and resilient NHS with a continued
focus on reducing long waits.
NHS Boards will see an increase in their baseline funding,
bringing total investment of over £17.6 billion, an average real
terms uplift of 1.8%. This will enable the creation of additional
capacity and continued expansion of the number of Hospital at
Home beds to at least 2,000 by the end of the calendar year.
In addition, the draft 2026-27 budget includes:
- £2.4 billion for primary care, including £36 million for new
walk-in GP services and a £531 million three-year funding deal
for General Practice to recruit more GPs and improve access
- an additional £40 million investment
in sport and physical activity to support opportunities
for people to be more active
- £2.3 billion investment in social care, exceeding the
Scottish Government's commitment to increase spending by 25% by
the end of the Parliament.
Health Secretary said:
“We want the people of Scotland to live healthier, longer lives.
To do this, our services have to be accessible, efficient,
and better tailored to people's needs - whether at home, in the
community, or in hospital.
“Our health and social care services still face challenges and
that is why we will
continue reform, focussing on prevention, reducing
waiting times, improving access, and shifting the balance of care
to communities. Our plans for walk-in GP services are backed by
£36 million and will look to provide additional same-day access
for communities.
“Despite ongoing pressures on services, recent statistics from
Public Health Scotland show progress is being made, with a 12.8%
fall in the number of waits over 52 weeks for a new outpatient
appointment between October and November 2025 and a 5.3% increase
in the number of operations carried out in the 12 months to
November 2025.
“I firmly believe our NHS has turned a corner and this draft
budget will enable us to build on this improvement.”
Background
Scottish Budget 2026-27
Latest statistics show
patients in Scotland had 34.28 million direct encounters with
staff in General Practice between November 2024 and October 2025
– an increase of 2.3 million on the same 12-month period in
2023-24. The GP investment deal, alongside plans for walk-ins,
will build on this and further add to the GP workforce, which
stands at 5,423 GPs, an additional 171 GPs compared to 2024.
Cancelled planned operations
statistics
Stages of treatment waiting
times
