SCOTTISH LABOUR leader Anas Sarwar promised today to do “whatever it takes” to tackle NHS Scotland’s soaring waiting lists — including shelling out on help from the private sector.

Mr Sarwar outlined his health plans before his keynote speech to the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow as the party fights to fend off a Reform UK challenge for second place in next year’s Holyrood election. 

As of September 30 last year, a staggering one in nine of Scotland’s people — 636,238 — were languishing on waiting lists for outpatient appointments or hospital treatment.