Winter woes for NHS patients

A Conservative voice BY WEST SCOTLAND MSP PAM GOSAL

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Waiting times A&E at The Royal Alexandra Hospital

Every year Scotland experiences a health emergency as the onset of winter bites.

Flu rates go up, waiting times balloon and hardworking NHS staff are expected to deliver more with less, under the most challenging and unforgiving circumstances.

And every year, the SNP Government seems to be taken by surprise.

You would think, having been in sole charge of Scotland's health service for close on 20 years, the Nationalists might have figured out the seasonal trends.

But yet another winter comes, and yet more people suffer and are forced to endure an NHS which has been obliterated by SNP mismanagement.

This week alone we can see the impact of incompetent governance upon one of our most treasured public services.

Across Scotland last week, barely two-thirds of accident and emergency patients were seen within the target four hours.