Accident and emergency departments are the frontline of the NHS and they are under huge strain.
Pressure in social care means that people who should leave A&E are staying longer than necessary because of bed blocking.
A&E targets are routinely missed and patients have a feeling of dread about ending up there.
It has now emerged that our status as the “Wild West” for cosmetic surgery is piling further pressure onto the system.
Patients are getting botched Botox and the individuals who carry out the treatments do not know how to fix any problems they create.
The people who paid for the cosmetic changes end up in A&E to get the NHS to correct the damage done in the unregulated sector.
This is another sign that laws on the cosmetic treatment industry must be rewritten and tightened up.
The NHS should never turn patients away and it is right that the folk who have fallen victim to dodgy treatments should be helped.
But the taxpayer is having to pick up the tab for the sloppiness of cowboy practitioners in the private sector.
Health Secretary Neil Gray must convene a summit to bring together the leading experts on this matter.
If a new law is required to protect patients and the public purse, so be it.
Our NHS is under huge financial pressure and needs every spare pound to deal with sick patients.
Botched cosmetic procedures are adding to the bill and must be clamped down on.
Rising anger
April has been a tough month for Scots after a range of tax and prices hikes.
Council tax bills shot through the roof and thousands of people were dragged into a higher income tax bracket.
Energy bills rose again and businesses had to endure an increase in their national insurance.
So it will be galling for voters to see John Swinney’s ministers receiving a near £20,000 pay rise.
A 15-year ministerial pay freeze has probably been counter-productive but it does not in any way justify such an eye-watering hike.
Politicians should practise what they preach and this looks like a massive own goal at a time difficult time financially.
The £20,000 rise should be put on ice and dumped for the sort of inflation-based rise ordinary Scots have been receiving.