in each session. That concludes general questions. The next item of business is

First Minister's questions. And at question number one, I call Russell Finley.

Thank you. President, Australia's nurses have spoken. This damning report from the Royal

College of Nursing lays bare our broken NHS. First-hand accounts from over 500

Scottish nurses reveal a lack of dignity and privacy for patients stuck in corridors and

side rooms. They describe scenes of chaos, patient safety being compromised due to a shortage

of beds and a dangerous lack of medication and oxygen.

It is page after page of shocking and desperate testimony. One said it's degrading, undignified

and at times unsafe for patients who are already angry due to the long waits, sometimes waiting

in emergency departments for over 35 hours

to go to a ward just to be put up in the corridor. The system is broken. So does John Sweney agree

with Scotland's nurses that Scotland's NHS is broken?

The first thing I want to do is to apologise to any individual who has had an unsatisfactory

experience in the care that they have received and in the congestion within the hospitals.

I want to commend, as I did last week, the staff of the National Health Service for the

unremitting commitment that they give to ensure that the system is able to deliver, as

best as it can in the face of unprecedented demand.

I recounted to Parliament last week the enormity of the increase in flu cases that have been

wrestled with within the National Health Service over the course of the last in flu cases that have been wrestled with within the National Health Service

over the course of the last few weeks.

The Government is entirely focused on ensuring that we meet the needs of patients

and we support staff in undertaking the essential work that they undertake,

...