SCOTTISH Labour leadership candidate Anas Sarwar has accused the SNP of short-changing Scotland’s NHS.

His statement comes after the a report revealed that total health spending has grown by around 50 per cent in England, compared to 34 per cent in Scotland.

In response, Sarwar has said announced an action plan to tackle the workforce crisis in the NHS.

The figures, released by Nuffield College, state that had Scottish health spending per head kept pace with English, it would have been around £1 billion a year higher in 2015-16.

Commenting on the findings, Anas Sarwar said: “This is a damning report which exposes how the SNP has short-changed our NHS.

“Following a decade of SNP mismanagement, our dedicated NHS staff are over-worked, under-resourced and under pressure. We have severe shortages of NHS staff including nurses, midwives, GPs and consultants.

“This is now starting to impact on patient care, with services under threat as we simply don’t have the staff to operate them.

“A Labour government I lead will never short-change our NHS, and I will launch an action plan to rescue our health service on day one in office.

“The NHS is Labour’s greatest achievement in government. It will always be our top priority.”

Measures proposed in Sarwar’s plan to tackle the workforce crisis include more training places at universities and colleges to increase the number of workers in the NHS and additional reserved places for Scottish students who are likely to remain in the country after graduating.

He is also suggesting a cap on profits that agencies can make and a further cap on what an agency can charge for an individual shift, adding that “it is unacceptable that firms bill the NHS up to £1,500 for a single shift for a nurse.”

If his party get into power, he has pledged to create more attractive pay and conditions, ending the wage cap for NHS workers.

At a local level, Sarwar has outlined that he would transform GP practices into community hubs with more support services, including mental health nurses, physiotherapists, and advanced speciality nurses.

The Glasgow MSP previously announced that he is campaigning to become Scotland’s next First Minister with the NHS, the gender pay gap and child benefits at the top of his agenda.