THE SNP have hit back at Labour claims they have ‘turned their backs on the NHS’.

Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie slammed the Nationalists after figures released last week showed that the percentage of patients being treated in A&E in four hours or less dropped from 93.5 per cent in December 2013 to 89.9 per cent in December 2014.

Ms Baillie insisted that Scottish Labour’s one principle demand in the Scottish Budget would be to protect the NHS with an additional £100 million Frontline Fund.

The politician, Scottish Labour’s shadow finance spokeswoman, said this would allow hospitals facing extra pressure to have planned surgery at the weekends and diagnostics in the evening. She told the Reporter: “Today the SNP turned their backs on our NHS in its time of need.

“The hardworking staff in our NHS dedicate their lives to saving others, but they are working under major pressures. They are overstretched, overworked, struggling to cope and it is patients who are bearing the brunt.

“Scottish Labour set out a clear solution to this, with a £100 million Frontline Fund to support our NHS staff and deliver better care for patients. We identified where the money would come from and still the SNP said no.

“On Tuesday the Scottish Government’s own statistics showed that our NHS in Scotland was performing worse than the NHS in England. On Wednesday they decided against giving it the support it needed. Scotland deserves better.” The SNP responded sharply, claiming Ms Baillie voted against increased funding. Jonathan McColl, SNP councillor for Lomond, said: “While her colleagues in the council were sacking teachers and cutting class time for five to 11 year olds, Jackie was in Edinburgh voting against increased NHS funding.

“We are by no means living in a health utopia, but the last full year figures I saw for a wide range of NHS services showed the Scottish NHS outperforming or matching our counterparts in the rest of the UK. In any case, the Scottish Government knows we must do more to strengthen the NHS and make frontline service delivery better for everyone. That is why John Swinney’s budget provided an extra £288 million for frontline NHS services.

“This is more than double the figure Jackie Baillie and the Labour Party wanted, meaning that the total budget has increase to more that £12 billion for the first time in history. Given that the Scottish Government went far beyond what Labour were calling for, it makes little sense that they voted against it and even less sense for Jackie Baillie to complain about it.” John Swinney’s 2015/16 budget will see provisions for free school meals, and, for the first time, a £12 billion total health budget.

MSPs voted on the Budget on Wednesday, February 4. Ms Baillie voted against the budget saying the Scottish Government would not accept Labour demands for a £100 million frontline fund to ease pressure on the NHS, and there was no promise to reverse the cuts to local government funding.