Delivering a strong NHS and reducing waiting times is my guarantee to Scots

In his regular column for the Record, First Minister John Swinney insists the Scottish Government's plan to reduce waiting times is working.

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I know that nothing is more important to Record readers than our NHS. We rely on it literally from the day we are born right until the end of our lives.

And while I hear from so many people about the extraordinary care they receive from our doctors and nurses, I know that too many people have had to wait too long for treatment in the past, particularly as a result of backlogs after the pandemic.

I was not willing to accept that – so I have put a plan in place to fix it. And it is starting to pay off.

The latest figures show that NHS waiting lists have fallen in Scotland – while they are rising south of the border. And for outpatient waits of more than a year, these are down 7.3 per cent, the fourth month in a row they have fallen.

Appointments and procedures are up – and we are seeing record numbers of hip and knee replacement operations.

This is all really good news for our NHS – and is testament to the extraordinary hard-work of staff right across the health service. And we are seeing real progress in our GP surgeries too.

GP numbers are up in Scotland – and last week the SNP Government confirmed funding of more than half a billion pounds to support recruiting even more hard-working GPs and to help to make it easier for you to get appointments.

But we are going to go further. On GPs, as well as this record funding, I have announced that we will be opening a network of 15 walk-in GP centres across Scotland. Open 12pm-8pm, 7 days per week to make it easier for you to be seen around your working hours and helping to beat the 8am rush.

And we will drive even more progress in our hospitals too. Today, I will be visiting the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow to announce an additional £25.5m in our NHS to deliver more planned care appointments and procedures – and reduce long waits even further.

That investment will support more procedures in specialities like orthopaedics, cardiology and general surgery.

I said we would bring waiting lists down – and that is exactly what we are doing. Our plan is working and I am determined that we will see it through.

Our health service is our most precious national resource. And under my leadership, the people of Scotland will always have a strong NHS that delivers quality treatment – that is my guarantee.

Plaid and SNP offer voters a message of hope

The UK is heading down a very dark path at the moment. Sky-high bills, Brexit, and Britcards are all signs of a UK Government with the wrong priorities – and which is drifting further and further to the right in the face of the threat of Nigel Farage.

That is not a future Scotland wants to be a part of. We need a different approach which offers a positive vision of hope for the future rather than the dismal certainty of decline with Farage or Starmer.

Last week, I welcomed the leader of Plaid Cymru to Scotland. It was clear that Wales faces so many of the same challenges as Scotland when it comes to Westminster – a UK Labour Government that treats them as an afterthought, and the spectre of Farage trying to turn communities against each other.

We agreed that Scotland and Wales should chart a different path – one where we support people with the cost of living, lift people out of poverty and reject the extreme right-wing policies of people like Farage.

That type of change will never be on offer from Westminster, no matter who is in office. That positive alternative will only come with the fresh start of independence.

Westminster must deliver on whisky

On Saturday, I was at the Scotland match with the US Ambassador. It was great to see a Scotland win, but it gave me the chance to make the case again for an even bigger win for Scotland – a tariff deal on whisky. The UK Government now must deliver.

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