"An interim policy on pensions is to be put in place by the Scottish Government to support the retention of experienced NHS Scotland staff. Pensions are a power reserved to the UK Government.The Scottish Government state:

The interim policy will operate while we await the outcome of the current UK Government consultation into further pension flexibilities and the outcome of HM Treasury’s review of the impact of the Annual Allowance taper on public sector pension schemes. 

The option to be made available is to allow eligible NHS Scotland staff to  get their employer pension contributions paid to them as part of their basic pay. Currently they face additional tax liabilities."
https://theorkneynews.scot

"Thanks to a parliamentary question on Monday, from Monica Lennon: ‘What minimum number of radiologists will be required to meet patient need in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years?’ we can see that radiology trainees have been increased by 30 per year to take the training establishment up by 75% to 179 in 2022. https://www.parliament.scot/S5ChamberOffice/WA20191111.pdf Earlier reports on radiology staffing showing lack of crisis in Scotland contrary to some media reports."
https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com

"The news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50397856') last week that the delays and target failures in the NHS are substantially worse than ever before is regrettably, unsurprising.  Dr Rachel Clarke has pointed out that since the Conservatives have been in government, surgical waiting lists have soared to 4.4 million; district nurses have been culled by 50%; 15,000 hospital beds have been closed and cancer waits are the worst on record. The NHS is now short of 43,000 nurses & 10,000 doctors. And we aren’t training enough of either to keep any sort of lid on natural wastage. Conservative government has, on an ideological basis, simply refused to invest. They have frozen pay for years, abolished the nursing bursary and put a cap on visas for foreign workers at a time when EU migrants are just going home."
http://www.progressivepulse.org

"The number of NHS [England] patients having surgery in private hospitals has nearly trebled since 2010, sparking accusations that for-profit companies are benefitting from an “enfeebled” health system under the Conservatives. NHS figures obtained by the Guardian show that it paid for 214,967 people in England to have an operation in a private hospital in 2009-10, Labour’s last year in power. The figure soared to 613,833 last year, a 185% rise in nine years....  Since 2007, 68,175 NHS-funded operations have been carried out by the independent sector in Scotland – an average of almost 6,000 a year since the SNP took office. The number of operations peaked between 2013 and 2016 when they hovered around the 10,000 mark....  The arithmetic is easy. More than 100 times as much private surgery or, per head of population, TEN times as much."
https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com