SCOTLAND suffered thousands of avoidable deaths of elderly and vulnerable people last winter because of government inaction, pensioners’ leaders have charged.

The National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) said that the numbers of winter deaths in Scotland for 2022-23 were the worst for more than 30 years and were an indication that Britain as a whole had suffered similarly.

National Records of Scotland figures showed 24,427 deaths registered in Scotland between December 2022 and March 2023: 11 per cent more than the previous winter and the highest since 1989-90, the NPC said.