It is encouraging that John Swinney has taken charge of the way his government runs the health service. It also good that he is already chairing weekly meetings and stepped in over the festive period.

He has even gone to witness the issues that the NHS is facing by visiting an ­accident and emergency unit in ­ Edinburgh. The NHS is in crisis and has been for some time.

Hundreds of thousands of Scots are on waiting lists. This is forcing some to spend all their savings to go private while those who cannot afford to do so are forced to suffer. Nearly 1700 people waited more than half a day in A&E for treatment over

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