OPPOSITION MSPs accused the Scottish government today of taking its eye off the ball when it comes to the ambulance crisis after a senior surgeon warned that the majority of problems in hospitals were not caused by coronavirus.

Professor Michael Griffin, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, warned that Scotland must address “a real workforce problem in the NHS and in social care,” which is causing a “vicious circle” impacting all parts of the health service.

He told BBC Radio Scotland that increasing numbers of Covid cases and infected patients in hospitals are adding to the “very, very complex problem” facing the health service, including under-pressure paramedics.