At the founding of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, three separate institutions were created in Scotland, England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Fourpence per week was beyond the means of most crofters at the time, who were subsistence farmers but often provided many troops for British armed forces.

[6] Following the publication of the Beveridge Report in 1942, the UK Government responded with a white paper, A National Health Service (Cmd.

The NHS in Scotland was created as an administratively separate organisation in 1948 under the ministerial oversight of the Scottish Office, before being politically devolved in 1999.

This separation of powers and financing is not always apparent to the general public due to the co-ordination and co-operation where cross-border emergency care is involved.

Descriptions of staff numbers can be expressed as headcount and by Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) which is an estimate that helps to take account of full and part-time work patterns.

[15] Most often this will be an independent contractor who has agreed to provide general medical services to patients, funded on a capitation basis, with weighting given for the age distribution, poverty, and rurality.

Various services are provided free of charge by General Practitioners (GPs), who are responsible for maintaining a comprehensive medical record, usually affording some continuity of care.

Since devolution, Scottish healthcare policy has been to move away from market-based solutions and towards direct delivery, rather than using the private or voluntary sectors.

By April 2014, there were new joint working arrangements in place between the NHS boards and local authorities came into effect that also included responsibility for social care.

[8][24] They were created in 1974 as a result of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1972 and are based on groups of the local government districts that existed between 1975 and 1996.

[26] The Health Committee of the Scottish Parliament had supported plans for directly elected members as a way that might improve public representation.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland is an independent statutory body which protects people with a psychological disorder who are not able to look after their own interests.

Its purposes include keeping GPs' patient lists up to date, the control of new NHS numbers issued in Scotland and assisting with medical research.

The Scottish Dental Practice Board, for example, was helping out a study which looked at the significance of orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances.

[42] The SNP led Scottish Government, elected in May 2007, made it clear that it opposed the use of partnerships between the NHS and the private sector.

"[46] The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990[47] introduced GP fundholding for certain elective procedures on a voluntary basis.

[49] In 2005, a plan for improving oral health and modernising dental practices was put into place, known as 'Childsmile', which provides preventive care such as proper brushing technique, tooth varnish and dietary advice.

[50] An incentive programme for GPs was established in 2004, known as the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) were introduced in order to reward and incentivize good practice and provided a way for GP surgeries to increase their income.

This will enable patients to record relevant information at home and relay the readings to NHS teams for analysis using a mobile app or landline telephone.

The University of Strathclyde, NHS Grampian, NATS Holdings, AGS Airports and other partners form a consortium, Care and Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland known as 'CAELUS' which has designed drone landing stations for NHS sites across Scotland and developed a virtual model of the proposed delivery network.

It is testing whether drones will improve logistics services, including the transport of laboratory samples, blood products, chemotherapy and medicines.

[59] In 2014 the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation produced a report comparing the performance of the NHS in the four countries of the UK since devolution in 1999.

[61] Dr. Peter Bennie, of the British Medical Association, attacked the decision to release weekly reports on the Accident and Emergency 4-hour wait target in June 2015.

He said, "The publication of these weekly statistics completely misses the point and diverts attention from the real issues in our health service.

"[62] The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland produced a report entitled "Learning from serious failings in care" in July 2015.

"[64] In January 2017 the British Medical Association said that the health service in Scotland was "stretched pretty much to breaking point" and needed an increase in funding of at least 4% "just to stand still".

[67] In November 2022 a survey by Ipsos and the Health Foundation found just 28% of the Scottish public were confident about their devolved government plans for the NHS.

[69] University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust complained in June 2015 that commissioners outside England use a "burdensome" prior approval process, where a funding agreement is needed before each stage of treatment.

A survey by the Health Service Journal suggested there was £21m of outstanding debt relating to patients from the devolved nations treated in the last three years, against total invoicing of £315m by English NHS trusts.