Scottish Labour have urged SNP ministers to call in the army to help boost capacity in the struggling NHS.
Labour said that military assistance was needed particularly to ensure that ambulance services and accident and emergency departments “do not buckle under pressure”.
Ministers had previously called in the Army to help during the coronavirus crisis in 2021.
Soldiers were brought in then to drive ambulances and Labour has now called for similar action.
Party health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The time has come to end the dither and to act.”
Latest waiting time figures for A&E departments showed a record 1,925 Scots spent 12 hours or more there in the week leading up to Christmas.
Baillie added: “Scotland is now in the midst of the worst NHS winter crisis in living memory – for which this SNP Government is solely responsible.”
Labour wants the Scottish Government to ensure that “promised increases” in investment for NHS24 delivers “quicker response times and better quality support for patients instead of long waits on the phone”.
It also insists that A&E departments must be “properly staffed so that patients can be triaged and have tests carried out in a timely manner” and for action to tackle delayed discharge – where patients who are medically well enough to leave hospital have to remain while they wait for care packages to be put in place.
Dealing with this would allow for people to be “cared for appropriately” while also increasing hospital bed capacity for those with urgent clinical need.
Labour also suggested putting plans in place to raise the minimum pay for care workers to £15 per hour could help tackle staff shortages in the social care sector.
Baillie said Labour was calling for action in these “key areas to bolster our NHS, protect patients and support staff”.
She said: “For months, Scottish Labour warned of potential winter NHS chaos and offered solutions that would support staff and patients – but Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon stuck their fingers in their ears and simply ignored everyone, including clinicians.
“The result of SNP inaction and incompetence is the lives of thousands of Scots being put in danger on a weekly basis.”
Baillie continued: “After 15 years of the SNP’s mismanagement, the very existence of an NHS worthy of the name in Scotland is at stake.
“Scottish Labour will not stand by and let that happen, which is why today, I have demanded action in key areas to bolster our NHS, protect patients and support staff.
“If Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon refuse to work with us to end this crisis then they will have to answer to the righteous fury of the Scottish people."
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