Business mogul Sir Tom Hunter has called for a ‘radical rethink’ on healthcare delivery with a shift to AI-enabled prevention and change to the funding model for the NHS in Scotland.
The veteran businessman, Scotland’s first homegrown billionaire, has pointed to the low-tax economy of Singapore as a template for the nation lift itself from decades of ‘managed decline’.
In a new paper from Oxford Economics, the philanthropist highlighted falling standards in education and healthcare, as well as lacklustre economic growth that are holding Scotland back from realising its full potential.
Sir Tom, whose foundation commissioned the 31-page report, said: “We once led the world in almost all key areas from education to invention, commerce to philanthropy… phones, TV, and penicillin all came from here, and Glasgow was the second city of the Empire.
“Where are we today and what is the state of our nation? In education, we have had falling standards for the past 20 years and in 2022, according to PISA, we were 30th in maths, 14th in reading, and 32nd in science across OECD countries.”
He added: “Our health outcomes are the worst in Europe and amongst some of the worst in the world. And we are sitting on a demographic ticking time bomb–the number of people over 85 years old will double in the next 20 years, while the number of working-age citizens will decline. How can Scotland pay for this? The answer is we can’t, unless we do something truly radical.”
In the report, Lessons from Singapore for Scotland’s Economy, a series of growth measures are proposed, including lower taxes, a bespoke immigration policy, a new model for health and social care and a housing and planning policy that works in an ‘accelerated manner’.
Singapore, whose shift towards knowledge-based industries in the 1990s and 2000s has helped it achieve the eighth highest GDP per capita in the world, also has a manufacturing sector largely centred on advanced electronics and biomedical, compared to Scotland’s reliance on food and drink.
And it has a relatively small government compared to most western countries. The IMF estimates that government expenditures accounted for 20.5% of GDP in 2022, compared to 42.8% in the UK, the report highlighted.
Employment is high, social protections are low, and public healthcare is reliant on a co-payment system which allow patients to take responsibility for their healthcare, as they directly contribute to paying for treatment. Public and private hospitals can compete for patients, which helps keep prices in check and encourage efficiency in the system.
Public healthcare also relies more on technology and innovation. HealthHub is a platform that allows patients to access and manage their health records, and telemedicine is widely used in Singapore, allowing patients to see a GP through a videocall for minor issues. Singapore is also heavily investing in sensors and monitoring devices, with a strong focus on prevention. One government initiative is the installation of smart sensors in homes of residents over 60 years old, which help monitor health and detect signs of potential issues.
More broadly, government services have largely been digitalised, and 99% of all transactions between citizens and government can be completed online. New services have been introduced thanks to the development of AI, such as OneService, a chatbot that enables citizens to lodge complaints through social media apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram. The system can classify complaints in the right category, extract relevant details, and identify the appropriate department to tackle the case.
The report recommends that Scotland target high-growth potential sectors, including renewable energy and the low carbon economy, life sciences and medical tech and software, big data and AI, and encourages more housebuilding alongside a more streamlined planning system.
Sir Tom said: “The report doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but its in-depth academic research demonstrates how a small country with a similar population has positioned itself as a global powerhouse over the past 60 years by having a clear focus on where it wants to be.
“It’s not outrageous to think we could reclaim our place on the global stage once again, but we need to be truly radical, bold and ambitious if this is to be achieved.”