According to new figures released by the National Records of Scotland, life expectancy in Scotland is continuing to fall for both men and women under Nicola Sturgeon’s watch.
Nicola Sturgeon has been chastised for the state of the NHS in Scotland, with new “absolutely shocking” official figures released today revealing that Scots’ life expectancy is continuing to fall under her watch. For the third year in a row, data from the National Records of Scotland show that both men and women are dying younger.
In Scotland, the average age of a woman when she dies is now 80.8 years, while it is 76.6 for a man.
This compares to an average UK life expectancy of 79.3 years for men and 83 for women.
It comes amid widespread concern about Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish Government’s failures since the SNP took power 15 years ago in 2007.
The Scottish First Minister has already had to explain why Scotland has the highest drug death rate in Europe, which reached a record 1,330 last year and is now more than three times higher than when the SNP took power 15 years ago.
Meanwhile, serious questions have been raised about the state of the NHS in Scotland, with over 600,000 Scots waiting for treatment for more than a month.
The SNP also struggled to open two new hospitals in Edinburgh and Glasgow due to building flaws that cost the taxpayer millions of dollars.
The issues with healthcare and supporting Scots’ well-being come as figures confirm that Ms Sturgeon and her government have more money to spend per head of population than the equivalent for England due to the so-called Barnett formula.
Former Scottish Secretary David Mundell called the figures on life expectancy “absolutely shocking.”
The veteran Scottish Conservative MP warned that the figures and decline in the NHS were directly related to the SNP’s obsession with holding another referendum on independence.
“The health service and people’s wellbeing in Scotland should be the SNP Scottish Government’s number one priority,” Mr Mundell said.
“However, Nicola Sturgeon and SNP ministers remain distracted by their obsession with the independence referendum.”