THE resumption of NHS services halted amid the pandemic must be a “national priority”, opposition parties have demanded.

It comes as figures show a rise in people dying from conditions like cancer and dementia.

Statistics show there were 1209 excess deaths from non-coronavirus conditions between March 16 – the week the first death from the virus was recorded in Scotland – and May 10, compared with the average number for this period over the past five years.

After Health Secretary Jeane Freeman revealed the total in answer to parliamentary questions from Labour, the party’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “Getting NHS services up and running safely again must be a national priority, to save lives and prevent health problems building up.”

She pledged Labour would support a “national effort” on this, adding: “One priority for us is restarting the cancer screening programme and accelerating a detailed plan for elective procedures.”

Glasgow Times:

She urged the Government to work on a cross-party basis, saying: “Rebooting our NHS is a massive task that will rely on co-operation and collaboration.

“MSPs are inundated with emails from constituents who are living with painful or life-threatening conditions and they are worried that the NHS is not there for them.

“The public and NHS staff need to know what to expect in the weeks and months ahead. It’s vital that measures are taken to maintain Covid-free healthcare environments and that adequate PPE is available so that patients can be treated safely.”

The calls come as the number of people receiving intensive care for coronavirus has continued to drop.

The latest Scottish Government figures published yesterday show only 27 people were in ICU for treatment, down six from the previous day.

A total of 732 people were in hospital after testing positive for the virus, down three - with a total of 15,400 people now testing positive across Scotland, an increase of 18.

A further nine people have died, bringing the death toll to 2362.

In Greater Glasgow alone there were only three new cases, bringing the total of cases here to 3946.

Ms Lennon’s comments were echoed by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, who said he fears there will be a “significant backlog of mental health cases, surgery waits and the like” – adding that ministers should make clear how long patients could have to wait for “overdue” treatment.

His comments came after recent figures showed almost 10,000 fewer Scots were admitted to hospital for planned treatment in March, compared with the same time last year as the impact of Covid-19 was felt by the health service.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We absolutely appreciate how difficult it has been for people who have had procedures or treatments postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are intensively planning for how we resume procedures in the NHS, but it is crucial that this is done in an orderly and safe way.

“This work will accelerate over the next few weeks and will be progressed in a phased approach. We will shortly publish a framework that will help inform how the health and care system is aligned and managed during the next phase of the Covid-19 response, and beyond.

“The Health Secretary will also give an update to parliament this week.”