Margaret Watt, chair of Scotland Patients Association, said she had been calling for the introduction of a seven-day regular service in the NHS for the past few years.

She argued that the health service should be no different from other public services which continued to be provided at the weekends.

She said: "It is a service and after all we are the employers. What we should be saying is we want you in line with every other service department. We don't take the buses off and we don't take the trains off over the weekends.

"The service should be spread over seven days, and that would help people who are working when their employers are often most reluctant to release them go for the treatment or to see a doctor.

"I used to work for BT and when it came to public holidays I had to make sure I had cover for the whole seven days.

"We didn't close the telephone exchange for the weekend, we had to put staff on that and make sure the staff worked. So why should the NHS be any different?"

Watt added that extending working hours would help to tackle issues such as waiting lists for patients.

"They have got CT scans there, they have got all the equipment, and with the amount of money we have to pay why should they lie dormant from a Friday until a Monday morning?"

"There is a way of doing duty patterns where you can at least give staff a day off during the week if they are working Saturdays and Sundays.

"We should be able to get extra staff in there and it should be open seven days a week, not five days a week.

"It means we can hopefully get rid of the waiting lists as we can use the scanners, we can use the theatres, and everything else at the weekend.

"People don't wait until Monday and then get sick, it can happen any day of the week."