Nicola Sturgeon

The Scottish Nationalists have called for an 11 per cent pay rise for nurses and midwives employed north of the border.

Setting out the party's latest thinking on health policy, shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon said the wage boost was needed to tackle staff shortages.

She also called for a maximum six month waiting time for outpatient appointments and an end to the "economic madness" of the private finance initiative.

"Extra investment in the NHS will not deliver change if we have too few staff in the NHS to implement that change," said Sturgeon.

"Staff shortages are acute across the NHS in all specialities and in almost every professional group and it essential that we do more to recruit and retain staff in Scotland."

She said her party's new pay pledge would see the average salary of a newly qualified nurse to nearly £19,000-a-year.

Sturgeon promised that an SNP-led Scottish executive would extend the Patient Guarantee to cover outpatient as well as inpatient treatment.

"We will work with health professionals to set realistic maximum waiting times for outpatient treatment in all specialities. In particular, we will work to ensure that, by the end of our first term in office, no patient will wait longer than six months for a first outpatient appointment."

And she pledged that her party would also build modern buildings for the 21st Century.

"An SNP government will end the economic madness of PFI and fund new investment through the not for profit trust model," she said.