UP 1
Deputy first minister of Scotland and cabinet secretary for health, Ms Sturgeon is a brave woman. She is taking on the drinks industry by setting a minimum price for alcohol, laying down the gauntlet to hospital trusts by setting out new safety standards – and taking the NHS in Scotland in a completely different direction from England by ruling out expanding private provision and seeking to set up ‘health and social care partnerships' that will cross the divide between health boards and local authorities. Ms Sturgeon has also sparked rumours of a break-up of the UK-wide GP contract by her calls for a ‘tartanisation' of its conditions. One of our panel members said she was a health minister showing others ‘how to positively engage GPs from Government'.
