SCOTTISH health boards have been informed that all new building projects have been put on hold. Long-promised projects like the eye hospital in Edinburgh, the refurbishment of the mental health ward at Dr Gray’s in Elgin and replacement hospitals in Fort William and Airdrie have all been shelved: all badly needed facilities that the SNP has been telling us for years that we would be getting. While the capital funding may have had a 4°0 cut in real terms, capital spending according to the Scottish Parliament summary shows that it will fall by 24% as some capital money is being transferred to the revenue budget to help cover pay deals. The SNP Government agreed a 12.4% pay increase for junior doctors in 2023-24. What it didn’t do however was work out how it was going to fund it. The SNP was so proud to tell us that Scotland is the only country in the UK to avoid NHS strikes. At what cost I ask? Scottish patients are being let down yet again. Those in the Lothians will have to continue travelling to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow for eye treatment, other towns will continue to have old buildings in need of replacing. Scottish citizens are suffering due to the SNP seeking out headlines on pay increases but not knowing how they’re going to pay for them. Jane Lax, Aberlour.