Humza Yousaf has been branded the "worst health secretary since devolution" by Labour in a row over how prepared the NHS is for winter.
Jackie Baillie, the party's health spokeswoman, launched a blistering attack on the Scottish Government today over its handling of under-pressure hospitals.
She told MSPs during a debate at Holyrood that "thousands of people are waiting more than eight hours every week across Scotland" in A&E wards.
Yousaf, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, admitted the service was struggling but insisted he had already taken measures to prepare it for winter.
Baillie said: "These delays have the most serious of consequences. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine tell us that delays in A&E lead to worse outcomes and ultimately cost lives.
"The NHS stands on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. The hard-working staff are doing their very best but they are exhausted.
"They get angry when the health secretary doesn't hear what they are saying. And they are in despair at the lack of support for them and for their patients."
The Dumbarton MSP repeated a warning from medical experts that "many of the components" of the Scottish Government's previously announced winter reliance plan "will not be in place to prevent further harm to patients and staff this winter".
And she claimed the winter plan contained "no new resources" and relied entirely on previously announced funding.
She added: "I can say, without fear of contradiction, that Humza Yousaf is absolutely the worst health secretary since devolution."
But Yousaf attacked Labour for failing to mention the huge impact of coronavirus on the health service.
He said: "There is nobody in this government who denies the NHS is under significant pressure. Of course it is. However, for Labour to bring forward a motion about NHS pressures, and not to include one single word about covid and the pandemic, demonstrates how it is Jackie Baillie and her party who have their fingers in their ears and not this government.
"This pandemic is the biggest shock our NHS has ever faced in its 74-year existence."
He added: "Let us remember there are 800 people in our hospitals right now who are suffering the effects of the virus. There are still people dying, families grieving due to the loss of covid.
"Any realistic, pragmatic discussion on the NHS in Scotland cannot simply cast aside the impact of the pandemic. It is central to the challenges we face. And that is why central to our recovery is that succesful vaccination programme.
"The NHS will not recover in weeks or even months as Jackie Baillie is demanding. It will take years. That's why the £1 billion recovery plan is predicated on five years of substantial investment and reform."
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