THE Audit Scotland Report on the Scottish health service is significant for a number of reasons (“Watchdog reveals the sorry state of NHS in Scotland”, The Herald, October 26)). When the SNP first came to power in 2007 its message was, “give us a chance to prove our competence, and then give us a pop at independence”. In the first five years, particularly in the NHS, competence was “proven” by the simple expedient of avoiding difficult decisions and doing nothing to upset the populace.

Decisions on spending, organisational changes and allocation of resources were taken, not on health grounds, but on whether they might alienate groups of voters. The next SNP administration was dominated by failing to achieve independence and by the aftermath of that failure. At no time over the past 10 years was the management of the NHS, or the governance of Scotland generally, treated as the SNP’s priority. Add to these distractions the fact that, with a very few notable exceptions, the SNP has lacked the talent at ministerial level to manage and direct major portfolios such as health, education, finance and local government, and the failures we see in the NHS and other major ministries are inevitable.

If ministers lack the experience, personality, vision and management skills to direct major departments the failures we have seen, including those in our health service, can come as no surprise.

Last year’s Audit Scotland Report on the NHS was bad; this year’s is worse. Report after report shows that our education service is performing poorly on many national and international comparisons. Police Scotland is an embarrassment. A leaked report tells of serious flaws in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Local authorities and local democracy are at breaking point through chronic under-funding. It is difficult to identify a major area of Scottish Government responsibility that has improved since the SNP took power. Indeed, most have worsened.

The SNP asked us to judge its competence and give it a chance to achieve independence. It failed to achieve independence and, on any honest evaluation, it has failed on the claims of competence as well.

I’m afraid that, until the SNP is replaced by a party that has a real political vision and philosophy and that treats the government of Scotland as its top priority, we will continue to see disastrous reports such as the one from the Audit Commission and our ministries of state will continue to fail to deliver for the people of Scotland.

Alex Gallagher,

Labour Councillor,

North Ayrshire Council,

Bridgegate House,

Irvine.

THE Audit Scotland report on the NHS makes shocking reading. The decline was started by Nicola Sturgeon when health was her responsibility from 2007 to 2012.

Shona Robison, the Health Secretary, has continued the trend. Her response to this report would do credit to a speech by Sir Humphrey Appleby of Yes Minister fame, waffling and dodging the vast bulk of failures to say there are “encouraging elements to the report”. The SNP tactic of “blame the last Labour administration; blame Westminster; blame Brexit; blame everyone but us” or just stating that it is so much worse in England and Wales just will not wash. Ms Robison says there is no “quick fix”. Ten years of devolved SNP administration of the NHS in Scotland has therefore produced not even a slow fix. Time has run out.

Dr Gerald Edwards,

Broom Road, Glasgow.