MP accuses SNP of taking their eye off the NHS ball

Ms Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, says new figures show that 1,000 hospital beds have been lost in Scotland in the last three years, and that Glasgow hospitals have 400 fewer beds.

She claims the number of available beds in the area has fallen below 6,000, and that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has seen the biggest drop of all the Scottish health board areas.

She said: “The SNP Government spent so long campaigning for independence that they took their eye off the ball on the health service.

“These figures show that over 1,000 beds have been lost from Scotland’s hospitals in just three years. Our NHS is already fully stretched and the SNP’s mismanagement is not inspiring confidence.

“It’s time they stopped obsessing about independence and dealt with pressing issues in our health service.”

A spokesperson for Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “This is shameful hypocrisy from Jo Swinson, when her own government in Westminster has slashed Scotland’s fiscal resource budget by 10 per cent since they took office.

“Despite this the SNP Government has protected and increased NHS spending, which has seen NHS staffing in Scotland rise to record levels.”

The spokesperson added: “The LibDems have helped railroad through privatisation in the NHS in England, and the people of Scotland know Jo Swinson and her colleagues can’t be trusted on the health service.”