Labour hit out at SNP’s ‘five recovery plans for NHS in four years’

Scottish Labour has accused John Swinney of offering only “half-baked” plans for the NHS, saying the SNP has delivered five recovery plans in the last four years.

The First Minister hit back at the opposition party’s deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie, saying standards in the health service are improving and she is only interested in “politics, politics, politics”.

They clashed at First minister’s Questions on Thursday, after the Health Secretary published an operational improvement plan for the NHS earlier in the week.

Neil Gray has said two further plans on the future of the NHS will be published in the coming months.

Dame Jackie referred to Monday’s announcement, saying: “That’s five plans in just four years.

“Now I know Biffa are suing the government, but this isn’t the kind of recycling Scots are looking for.”

She said the SNP is “scrambling around” as it has “broken” Scotland’s NHS.

Mr Swinney said he had been “candid” about the challenges facing the NHS as a result of the pandemic.

He said the Scottish Government had exceeded targets to deliver additional procedures in the health service, while waiting time performance of radiology diagnostic tests has also improved.

Mr Swinney said: “What Jackie Baillie ignores is the impact on population health as a result of the global pandemic.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader said: “Once again, we see the SNP spin machine wanting to pretend everything is fine.”

She continued, saying staff and patients “deserve more than the SNP’s hollow apologies and half-baked plans that never get delivered”.

The First Minister said Labour had failed to back the Government’s budget and its record funding for the NHS.

Mr Swinney said: “That is just what we hear from Jackie Baillie every single week and it ignores the facts of what is actually going on.”

Waiting time performance for child mental health services is now hitting targets for the first time, he said, while cancer care waits are improving.

He added: “She’s not interested in investing in the National Health Service, it’s just politics, politics, politics for Jackie Baillie.”