The First Minister and the Health Secretary have apologised to two pensioners after they told how they had been left cold in hospital without blankets.

Great-great-grandmother Helen Macbeth, 92, said she was "frozen" after staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Paisley put her in a room with a bed with just a sheet and mat on it.

Great-grandfather Jack Barr, 65, complained he had been left with just a beach towel he had brought into the same hospital with him to keep him warm.

The two pensioners met First Minister Alex Salmond and Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon today after Johann Lamont raised their treatment at Holyrood.

The Labour leader pressed him on the issue at First Minister's Questions, where she said her party had found "at least seven recent cases of patients going without blankets at the Royal Alexandra Hospital".

She challenged Mr Salmond, and said: "Why doesn't he come and meet with Mr Barr and Mrs Macbeth in my office after this session and explain that we don't have a problem with the NHS.

"They'll tell him, as I am telling him, what the NHS is really like under the SNP."

After question time, Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon met the two pensioners, and apologised to them.

A spokesman for Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS said: "Following the issue of linen availability at the RAH being raised at the Scottish Parliament today, we want to apologise to any of our patients who feel that the linen, towelling or blanket provision was not adequate for them."

Mrs Macbeth, a former auxiliary nurse from Renton, was in the Paisley hospital for three days at the end of February.

She said she was put in an "absolutely freezing" sideroom, with a bed that had a sheet and a "little blue mat" on it.

She awoke during the night and was "frozen", but when she asked for a blanket an "embarrassed" nurse told her: "Helen, we're very sorry, we don't have any blankets to give you."

Mrs Macbeth said the nurse got some sheets to put round her as she was "absolutely shivering" and also wrapped herself in a bath towel she had brought into hospital.

She said: "I was shocked to think that a hospital that size did not have adequate bedding for their patients.

"I've no quibble with the nursing staff. They tried their best for me. It's just the bed linen situation."

Mr Barr was in the Royal Alexandra Hospital to have fingers amputated after a stroke.

He first asked for a blanket when he was admitted, but never got one.

He added: "On the second day after my operation, when I came out of theatre, my family came up to visit me a couple of hours later. I was still sitting there on the bed without a blanket and I had my beach towel wrapped around me keeping me warm.

"My daughter asked the nurse 'Could I get a blanket for my father, he's just out of theatre?' The answer was, "I'm sorry but they're like gold dust just now'."

He said he "could not wait" to get out of the hospital, adding: "It was a very, very bad experience. I have been in a few hospitals since 2000 with heart operations and a stroke and that's the worst experience I've ever had."

Mr Barr said: "This should not happen to people in this day and age. If you go into hospital, you expect to be treated well."

Mrs Macbeth said both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon were "very sympathetic" when they met, adding: "They said they were going to look into it and see what they can to. I hope they'll be able to do something about it."

After the meeting, a Scottish Government spokeswoman confirmed both the First Minister and Health Secretary had apologised to the two patients "on behalf of the health service for their individual experience and the lack of blankets available during their stays at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley".

The spokeswoman added: "Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board have made clear that there is no truth in claims that there is a shortage of linen at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, but have already acknowledged that there were some internal operational issues at the hospital relating to the supply of linen from the hospital's in-house linen store to the wards."

The spokeswoman said the health board had reissued guidance to staff reminding them of the "process of accessing linen supplies".

She added: "The First Minister and Health Secretary were encouraged that both Helen and Jack praised the staff at the hospital for the overall care they received, but the Health Secretary has given assurances that the issue will be resolved."

The spokesman for Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board said it wanted to "reassure our patients that there are sufficient supplies".

He added: "There is no question of a shortage of supply or funding to purchase linen. Over the past year alone, £1.2 million has been invested in new and replacement linen for our hospitals and these new supplies have been in use at the RAH for many months."

But he added: "There does however appear to be some internal operational issues at the hospital relating to the supply of linen from the hospital's in-house linen store to the wards, and our site facilities management team are currently reviewing this."

The spokesman continued: "It is important to understand that in a very large and busy hospital such as the RAH, there may be occasions when individual wards - at any given time - can experience pressure on supplies."