Former health secretary Alex Neil has said a separate “health tax” should be introduced in Scotland to pay for essential improvements to the NHS.
The proposal was one of the recommendations in a 10-point plan outlined by the SNP MSP.
Mr Neil said the plan for a tax specifically for the NHS was “deeply controversial but cannot be ignored”.
He said powers should be transferred to Holyrood to allow the Scottish government to introduce the levy.
The Scottish Conservatives said Mr Neil had “gone rogue” with a strategy that did not appear to have the backing of the SNP or the Scottish government.
Mr Neil served as health secretary from 2012 to 2014 before being moved in a cabinet reshuffle to the post of social justice secretary.
He resigned from government in May 2016 and now sits as a backbencher for Airdrie and Shotts.
The MSP said his discussion paper concentrated on the problems of health inequalities, preventing avoidable disease, the cost of new medicines and staffing.
He said: “The longer-term NHS issues cannot be swept under the carpet. “The whole British system is in stress and while efficiency savings are needed, they will not be enough, which is why I float the idea of a separate health tax – deeply controversial but cannot be ignored.”
The NHS already accounts for 40% of the Scottish government’s current budget.
Mr Neil said this proportion could not be significantly increased without having an impact on other areas.
‘His own way’
The Scottish Tories said it was another example of Mr Neil contradicting both SNP and Scottish government policy, after he admitted voting for the UK to leave the EU last year.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said: “It appears Alex Neil is so dissatisfied with his own government’s running of the NHS he deems it necessary to go his own way on the matter.
“SNP HQ will be furious that he is trying to sideline the health secretary on this one.
“People will wonder why on earth an SNP backbencher is taking it upon himself to do this.”
Mr Cameron added: “There’s no question that the NHS in Scotland needs substantial review, and many of these points are worthy of consideration. “But as long as the SNP prioritises the break-up of Britain over the running of the NHS, no real improvements will take place.”
Other recommendations include a “long-term, detailed strategy and business plan”, covering the period to 2030, measures to prevent ill-health and improved earlier detection of diseases such as cancer.
Mr Neil also advocated increasing the supply of new doctors and nurses by a “substantial number” as well as “urgent measures to address staff shortages in the NHS and social care”.
The plan was published by the Options for Scotland think tank run by former SNP leader Gordon Wilson.
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