The ability to ensure that all who require care or medical treatment are able to receive it is a hallmark of a civilised society.

The founder of the NHS, Nye Bevan, rightly stated that “No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid due to lack of means”.

But in Scotland in 2022, the reality is that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens are languishing on ever-lengthening waiting lists, lives are needlessly being lost in A&E departments across the country and our hardworking staff are burnt out.

These are not abstract numbers – these are real people, our family, friends, and colleagues.

People are living in pain on a daily basis and lives are being tragically cut short due to this SNP government’s failure to support the NHS. The problems existed before the pandemic, but the weakness in our NHS has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Our social care system too, has been devastated. Across Scotland, the human rights of care home residents are being ignored, care users have their services reduced and family carers are being failed.

Our social care workforce is overworked and underpaid, with care workers now having to choose between heating and eating as the cost of living crisis bites.

All the while, the SNP government has failed to act.

We cannot go on like this.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we must rise to the challenge before us and act to restore our NHS and social care.

We need a relentless focus on the recruitment and retention of NHS and social care staff; prioritising waiting list catch up programmes and re-starting screening programmes to improve early diagnosis of cancer.

We also need to prioritise prevention rather than simply tackling crisis and dealing with inequalities and that means that primary care and social care need the resources required to shift the balance of care closer to home.

Putting NHS staff at the forefront of our recovery is key to rebuilding an NHS that works for all.

Our care system too is in need of far-reaching overhaul so that it works for those it serves.

In place of the SNP’s obsession with centralisation and timid reform, Scottish Labour is determined to deliver a National Care Service worthy of the name.

This National Care Service would be democratically run, locally accountable and answerable to the people it serves.

We would end non-residential care charges, put in place support for family carers and end residential care charging for the over 65s.

We would also tackle endemic low pay in the sector by delivering £15 an hour for our heroic care workers.

Only far-reaching reforms can we ensure that we have an NHS and social care system fit for the future.

Scottish Labour’s task will be to restore decency and civility to our society by tackling the health inequalities before us – let’s get to work.

Jackie Baillie MSP is Scottish Labour's spokeswoman for health