Johann Lamont calls for truce with Nicola Sturgeon to solve NHS crisis

It’s rumoured leader of Scottish Labour, Johann Lamont will call on SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon to put party politics aside and agree on a review that will aim to solve the crisis facing the NHS.

In a speech today, Lamont will say that although the NHS must be protected from privatisation, “the real threat comes from rising costs and demographic change.”

Lamont will explain that light of the nature of the NHS’s problems, politicians from across the political spectrum must work together to protect the health service:

“For too long, party politics has got in the way of taking long-term decisions over our NHS. Time after time, vested interests have been put above patients. We know Scottish patients have suffered as a consequence of staff shortages, missed targets and lack of capacity,” she will say.

“The only way we can move beyond this impasse is to take this issue out of the hands of politicians and put it in the care of the experts, who can work with the public to fix our NHS.

“In order that this becomes more than a talking shop, all political parties should sign up to this process and be bound by the results.”

If all parties, including the SNP, were to agree to putting this report ahead of party politics, they would be bound to comply with the report’s recommendations.

As well as making this plea, and in line with what we reported a couple of weeks ago, it’s also rumoured that Lamont will quell rumours that she’s going to stand down as Scottish Labour leader before the Holywood elections in 2016.

We’ll keep you updated on any further developments…