Salmond says Scottish NHS in danger if there’s a No vote – but leaked paper shows £450m blackhole

Alex Salmond’s claims that the NHS is at risk if Scots vote No in Thursday’s referendum has hit new trouble again today.

A leaked report claims that NHS Scotland will have to make significant cuts as it faces a funding gap of between £400 and £450 million in 2015/16 alone. The paper, which has been given to both the BBC and the Yes-supporting Herald newspaper, says “The status quo and preservation of existing models of care are no longer an option given the pressing challenges we face.”

The documents state that existing proposals for the Scottish health service, planned by Salmond’s governing SNP, are “not fully funded”.

On cuts, the report says: “projected change in the financial position which will require boards to achieve cash-­releasing savings … at a level significantly in excess of that previously required and without the mandate and authority to implement the scale of change and redesign required.”

On keeping services, such as A&Es, open, it says: “Radical and urgent decisions need to be made regarding the shape and configuration of services.”

During the second televised debate, Salmond was widely seen to have won after he went on the attack over the NHS. He has claimed that “it’s now well understood that voting yes will allow us to protect Scotland’s NHS from the threat to budgets here as a consequence of the cult of austerity and privatisation being forced on the NHS in England.”

However, the Better Together campaign has reacted angrily to these claims, with Gordon Brown threatening to stand for the Scottish Parliament if Salmond continued to “peddle that lie”. The independent Institute of Financial Services (IFS) also dismantled Salmond’s NHS claims, pointing out that “the Scottish government has chosen to protect the NHS in Scotland slightly less than it has been protected in England.”