Government failing on NHS: Lamont

Jan 10 2013

The First Minister and his Labour rival have clashed over the state of the NHS, with the Scottish Government accused of "failing to deliver for the health of the people of Scotland".

Labour leader Johann Lamont attacked the performance of Nicola Sturgeon, who was health secretary for more than five years in the SNP administration. A cabinet reshuffle last year saw her given responsibility for the independence referendum, leading to Ms Sturgeon being dubbed the "Yes minister".

Ms Lamont claimed Alex Neil, who succeeded her as health secretary, was the "clean-up the mess minister".

But First Minister Alex Salmond hailed his deputy's performance on the NHS as he highlighted some of the "great successes of the health service" under her stewardship.

"I don't accept Johann Lamont's revisionist view of Nicola Sturgeon's term as health secretary," Mr Salmond insisted.

But Ms Lamont told him: "The fact of the matter is Nicola Sturgeon was health secretary for five years. In the 127 days since she left, her successor has had to deal with review after review.

"A review into the full extent of the hidden waiting lists in health boards across the country when Nicola Sturgeon told us NHS Lothian was an isolated case. A review of access to groundbreaking drugs for people with terminal illnesses because under Nicola Sturgeon we went from being the best in the United Kingdom to the worst. And the review of health inequalities and the resuscitation of a taskforce five years after Nicola Sturgeon made it her top priority."

She demanded: "How many reviews do we need, how many independent reports do we need, before the First Minister realises his Government is failing to deliver for the health of the people of Scotland?"