Humza Yousaf has admitted it could take five years for the NHS in Scotland to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The SNP health secretary spoke candidly today about the huge pressures facing the country's hospitals ahead of a challenging winter period.
Appearing on the Sunday Show on BBC Scotland, Yousaf was asked if the problems facing the health service were too big to be fixed.
He said: "I don't take a fatalistic view on that. The recovery is happening and it will take time - it will take years. I've got to be up front. The recovery is not going to happen in the course of winter.
"Scottish Labour brought a motion last week that did not contain a mention of covid. They essentially want the recovery done by this winter Well, the NHS is not going to recover by this winter. There will be fluctuations as you would imagine."
Yousaf added: "Our recovery plan is over five years and it is going to take at least five years, frankly. This winter is going to be, frankly, the most challenging the NHS has ever faced."
It comes after Labour last week accused Yousaf of being "the worst health secretary since devolution". The party called on the SNP minister to improve his winter plan for the health service or resign.
Jackie Baillie, Labour health spokeswoman, told MSPs that "thousands of people are waiting more than eight hours every week across Scotland" in A&E wards." It was also revealed last week that 4,069 patients waited more than 24 hours to be seen at emergency departments in Scotland in the last year – with others waiting up to two days for emergency care.
The figures for the year to September 25, 2022, show 859 people waited more than 36 hours to be assessed and either admitted, treated or discharged in A&E departments. Meanwhile, 243 people waited more than 48 hours to be seen.
Yousaf said: "What we have to do is making sure we can give people the care they need as close to home as possible, and work on the preventative side as well. Early cancer diagnosis, for example, is where a lot of our effort and energy is going.
"The First Minister recently announced two additional rapid cancer diagnostic services in Scotland. But on top of that, a lot of our effort is going into providing care at home so when people do get ill, and come into hospitals which are already busy, we can try to provide that closer to home."
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