That the NHS in Scotland is in deep crisis has never been so clear. In the past week alone we’ve seen examples from right across the country of the dire state of affairs.

Appalling waiting lists, soaring delayed discharge rates and worsening outcomes for patients are issues which regularly dominate the pages of newspapers and the topics of debate in parliament.

In recent days Audit Scotland, the country’s public services watchdog, warned things were so bad patient safety would be jeopardised.

Last year, a constituent in the region told me about appallingly long waits for appointments in relation to hearing aids.

They couldn’t understand why something which you can walk into a high street business and have done almost immediately was taking months on end with the NHS.

I wrote to the health board about this, and the chief executive responded with some stark data in relation to assessments for hearing aids, their subsequent fittings, and any necessary reassessment.

In Wick, not only does a first assessment take an average of 31 weeks to happen, but the fitting of a hearing aid now exceeds a year, with the average delay 64 weeks.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Politics Matters