The NHS is “broken” in Scotland and will not be able to survive in its current form, the head of the union that represents the country’s doctors has claimed.

Dr Iain Kennedy, the chairman of the BMA, said health staff were “exhausted, burnt-out and broken”.

And he said calls for the Scottish government to take action had fallen on deaf ears.

The government acknowledged that the NHS is facing unprecedented pressures.

It said this was due to backlogs caused by the Covid pandemic, Brexit-related staff shortages and increases in winter viruses such as flu.

Dr Kennedy said his NHS colleagues had told him over the past fortnight that the “whole health and social care system in Scotland is broken” and called for a “national conversation” on the future of the service.

Want to see Scotland under the SNP?