Ian Blackford has said the health and care workers responding to the coronavirus emergency are "heroes" and must be honoured by Parliament after the crisis.

Speaking at Prime Ministers Questions, the SNP Westminster Leader praised the thousands of former NHS staff seeking to return to work, and all those working tirelessly to tackle coronavirus.

Blackford said: "When this crisis is over, Parliament must find a way to honour the amazing heroes in our NHS and care sector who are working tirelessly to help us defeat coronavirus.

"From consultants to cleaners; carers to nurses; drivers to maintenance workers; GPs to paramedics – many thousands of people are performing vital work to save the lives of others, and this must be recognised.

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"The response to this unprecedented emergency from our public service workers has been exceptional – and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for putting themselves at risk, and working around the clock, in order to protect our loved ones.

"Over 3300 enquiries have already been made in Scotland about NHS staff seeking to return to work in order to help in this effort. These people, and all those already working tirelessly within our NHS, are our heroes and deserve recognition.

"In the meantime, there is one way one way that the public can honour and support our NHS staff now; and that is by staying at home to protect our health service and save lives."