Nicola Sturgeon has been told to "end the games on independence" and instead tackle the problems created by her "incompetent" SNP government.

The Tories and Labour both used First Minister's Questions to urge the SNP leader to turn her attention to domestic issues, such as health and funding for public services, as opposed to playing "Russian roulette with the constitution".

Ms Sturgeon came under fire after saying this week's Supreme Court ruling on Brexit raised "fundamental issues" for Scotland.

Judges ruled that while MPs must be given a vote before Theresa May triggers Article 50, the UK Government is "not legally compelled" to consult the devolved administrations.

In the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, the First Minister insisted it was "very telling" that both the Conservatives and Labour had raised the issue of the constitution.

She criticised the Tories for having "created the Brexit disaster the rest of us are all now dealing with" and also blasted Labour after it said it would not block the triggering of Article 50 to start the formal process of exiting the European Union.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Labour yet again roll over and do exactly what they are told by the Conservative Party.

"No wonder the Scottish Labour Party is in the pathetic state it is in today, not the courage of its convictions."

On Tuesday the First Minister had questioned if Scotland was "content for our future to be dictated by an increasingly right-wing Westminster government with just one MP here" and asked if it was "better that we take our future into our own hands".

She said at the time: "'It is becoming ever clearer that this is a choice that Scotland must make.''

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told her at Holyrood: "I want a country that is run by a Scottish Government that spends it every waking hour sorting out public services and not obsessing about another referendum.

"A Scottish Government that actually wants to deal with the child obesity crisis, not one plotting how Brexit can be used to create more division and uncertainty in Scotland, that's the country that I want back."

Ms Davidson blasted: "She says we must confront independence but I think it's time she confronted the failings of 10 years of this incompetent SNP government and tackled them instead."

Labour's Kezia Dugdale also pressed the First Minister, saying that at a time when poverty is impacting the lives of too many Scots "the First Minister's response is to play a game of Russian roulette with the constitution and impose cuts on school and valued local services".

She added: "She should stop the grandstanding on Europe, end the games on independence and tell us this: what really is the SNP's top priority - is it closing the gap between the richest and the rest, or is it just another divisive independence referendum?"

In exchanges with the First Minister, the Tory leader raised the issue of Hugh Faulkner, from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, who was originally told he would have surgery on a hernia within 12 weeks but has now been told he cannot have the operation.

Ms Davidson said he had "been informed that Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is no longer able to book his operation and that it has also stopped referring patients to the Golden Jubilee in Clydebank",

As a result of this, she said Mr Faulkner "will not get the operation that he needs".

She claimed this came at the same time as reports reveal that in NHS Grampian "there are operating theatres that are lying empty because hospitals don't have the staff".

Ms Davidson called on the First Minister to explain this "to people like Mr Faulkner, who can't get an operation at the same time as operating theatres are lying empty due to a lack of staff".

The Tory attacked the "short-sightedness" of the Scottish Government on NHS staffing, saying when Ms Sturgeon was health secretary she had made "catastrophic cuts" to student nursing places over two years.

"Now, as predicted, patients are paying the price as routine operations are cancelled and treatment waiting-times grow, all because of staff shortages," she said.

Ms Sturgeon said when that happened there were "significant challenges" for student nurses trying to find work.

"There was a problem of nurse unemployment and we took decisions ,as I think we were right to do, on the basis of the data that was available to us at the time," the SNP leader said.

She also defended her party's record on NHS staffing, saying the total number of people working for the NHS had increased by the equivalent of 11,500 whole time staff since the SNP came to power, with a 5% increase in qualified nurses and midwives.

The First Minister also accused Ms Davidson of prioritising tax cuts for top earners ahead of money to invest in the NHS.

Discussions on the Government's 2017-18 Budget plans are currently taking place in Holyrood but the Tories have vowed to vote against the proposals as the Scottish Government is not following the UK's example on raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax at 40p - with the Conservatives saying this will leave Scotland as the highest-taxed part of the UK.

Ms Sturgeon said: "We're in a budget process right now where we are committed to record investment in our National Health Service.

"Ruth Davidson instead wants us to cut tax for the top 10% of income earners in Scotland.

"We are choosing investment in our National Health Service, Ruth Davidson thinks we should choose tax cuts for the wealthiest.

"She's entitled to prioritise tax cuts for the wealthiest but she then can't come to this chamber and ask for even more money for the health service.

"It's time for Ruth Davidson to choose, because I choose investment in the health service."

For Labour, Ms Dugdale challenged the First Minister on the funding for public services contained in the Budget plans.

After Holyrood failed to endorse a Scottish Government amendment motion on the Budget on Wednesday, Ms Dugdale told her: "Labour will not stand by while nationalist ministers, who repeatedly profess their love for this country, cut public services by £327 million, hurting the most vulnerable people in this country.

"This is a First Minister who says that closing the attainment gap is her top priority, but isn't it the case the gap between the richest and the rest is widening on her watch?"

But Ms Sturgeon disputed her claim of funding cuts, saying: "The budget we have put forward is putting more than £200 million into local services.

"This is a strong budget that prioritises fair tax and prioritises boosting our economy."