1 August 2016 - Opposition politicians are calling for the Scottish NHS to haggle with drug companies over the price of new treatments.

Anas Sarwar, health spokesman for Scottish Labour, has outlined a plan to improve access to the latest drugs in Scotland - including negotiating the bill with pharmaceutical giants.

Mr Sarwar said during his meetings with clinicians, patients and academics issues about accessing new treatments had been raised repeatedly.

Now in a letter to Health Secretary Shona Robison he has proposed five steps to improve the system.

A group of experts known as the Scottish Medicines Consortium analyses new medicines bought forward by manufacturers and decides if they should be prescribed by the NHS north of the border.

Read Herald Scotland article