NICOLA Sturgeon has denied her government’s £850m plan to cut waiting times is failing despite new figures showing almost a third of patients were treated after the legal deadline.

The First Minister was branded “delusional” by Ruth Davidson after making the claim.

The Scottish Tory leader also said Health Secretary Jeane Freeman should be sacked if she failed to hit the next milestone on improving the 12-week treatment time guarantee.

Official data revealed the guarantee - which promises inpatient or day case treatment within 12 weeks - was missed for 31.6 per cent of patients in the first three months of 2019.

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It was the second consecutive record low after 27.3% of patients were not treated on time in the previous quarter.

The “legally binding” guarantee has been missed almost 213,000 times since it was laid down in law in 2012 when Ms Sturgeon was health secretary.

A recent £850m remedial plan forecasts 25% of patients will still be missing the 12-week target by October 2019, falling to 15% by October 2020 and none at all by March 2021.

However at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon refused to say if Ms Freeman would be sacked if the October milestone was missed.

Ms Davidson said 23,000 patients getting treated late between January and March was an “utter disgrace” and asked how Ms Sturgeon would rate the performance.

Ms Sturgeon said it would “take time for that plan to work”, and the early priority was tackling the longest NHS waits.

She said: “There is real progress being made by this Government, and we will work hard to continue to make progress in the weeks and months to come”.

Ms Davidson said others waiting time plans had failed in the past and the current one was failing too, asking why patients should have any confidence in the government.

She said: “The trouble with the improvement plan is that it was introduced six months ago but, since then, the headline figures have got worse, not better.

“In fact, they are the worst that they have ever been.”

Ms Sturgeon replied: “Actually, the plan is not failing. Anybody who understands how the health service operates, and who understands its integrated nature, would understand that.

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“When we tackle the longest waits - particularly for out-patient treatment -that means that more people require in-patient treatment, which has the effect on the figures that Ruth Davidson talked about. Nonetheless, the underlying trend is in the right direction.

“The improvement plan, is therefore, working, which is why we will stick with it.”

Ms Davidson said: “If selective use of statistics by the Scottish Government were a cure, Scotland would be the healthiest country in the world.

“The First Minister is conveniently forgetting the failure to meet the 18-week referral target; the one in five patients who is waiting too long for psychological therapy; the fewer than half of patients who are getting musculoskeletal services within four weeks; and the almost one fifth of patients with urgent cancer referrals who are waiting more than two months.”

She asked if the government would “absolutely ensure” it hit the 25% target in October, and if it didn’t would Ms Freeman “keep her job?”

The First Minister did not give any guarantee, and said the Health Secretary was "getting on with the job of delivering for patients".

Ms Davidson said: “It sounds to me like the health secretary will keep her job regardless”.

The First Minister said 1.76m patients had been treated within the 12-week guarantee since it was introduced “and got faster treatment than they would otherwise have had”.

She said: “In the previous quarter, there was an 8.5% reduction in the number of on-going waits over 12 weeks. That is because this Government is investing in the waiting times improvement plan. We will carry on doing that.

“This Government will dedicate its efforts - those of the health minister or any other minister - to ensuring that we meet the targets.

“Given the number of ministers who have had to resign from the Conservative UK Government recently, I am not sure that ministers resigning is the strongest ground for Ruth Davidson to be on.”

Ms Davidson said later: “The First Minister should be making it clear that failure to meet legal guarantees for patients is unacceptable. Instead, her message is - fail and keep your job.

“That’s the SNP way: a breached promise to patients on waiting times, but a blanket guarantee to the minister responsible that she’ll keep her job regardless.

“For Nicola Sturgeon to claim the plan isn’t failing is frankly delusional.

“It’s insulting to the patients who are painfully waiting for their treatment, and insulting to the general public who expect honesty from their First Minister.”