NICOLA Sturgeon has defended the Scottish Government’s handling of the NHS during a speech at the Plaid Cymru’s annual conference in Aberystwyth.
The First Minister said: “Our NHS faces challenges. An ageing population is leading to increasing demand and it is a daily focus of me and my government to make sure we support the NHS to deal with that demand. But here’s the reality. If Labour had won back in 2007, our NHS would be less able to meet that demand, not more able.
“Back then, Labour said any extra cash would be spent on education and the NHS would have to ‘cut its cloth’. They also planned to close two accident and emergency units.
“The SNP promised these A&E units would stay open, we found a way to keep them open and since we saved them from Labour’s axe, they have treated more than 800,000 patients between them.
“And, while we have big challenges to address, the fact is that our NHS is now performing better against tougher targets than it did at any point under Labour.”
The NHS in Scotland, Sturgeon said, was performing better than the NHS in Wales under a Labour government.
Sturgeon told delegates the “outrageous” English votes for English laws plan had effectively turned Scottish and Welsh MPs into “second-class citizens in the House of Commons” preventing them from “voting even on issues that will have an impact on our countries.”
She added: “I always thought it was the SNP’s job to persuade people of the case for independence – but these days it seems the Tories are keen to do that job for us.”
Sturgeon’s speech was part of a fraternal exchange of leaders between the two pro-independence parties. Plaid Cymru’s leader Leanne Woods addressed the SNP conference last week.
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