• Both the Scottish Conservative's Douglas Ross and Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar focus on health waiting times
• The first minister says that despite challenges there are "tentative" improvements
• The FM says she is not shying away from the challenges that Scotland's NHS is currently facing
• Mr Ross raises the issue of a woman given a cardiac appointment for July 2024. The first minister said it was "not acceptable" for that patient to face such a wait and her case was being looked at
• Mr Sarwar highlights the cases of his young constituents who are waiting for mental health service appointments, including that of an eight-year-old with autism who has been without support for almost a year. The FM says she would not say that is acceptable but insists mental health service reforms are starting to deliver improvements
• Ms Sturgeon reiterates that it is unacceptable to protest outside abortion clinics, calling on protestors to come to the parliament instead
• Two backbench MSPs raise the issue of the attainment gap. The FM says her government has not given up on young people and insists there has been progress
• Ms Sturgeon confirms about 4,200 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK to live with a Scottish sponsor - 2,035 have an individual sponsor and 2,236 have the Scottish government as 'super sponsor'

That's all from the live page team today. Have a lovely afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

SNP MSP Kaukab Stewart asks for an update on the Scottish government's Super Sponsor scheme for displaced Ukrainians.

The FM reveals there have been 12,861 applications for a visa with a Scottish sponsor and more than 11,500 visas have been issued.

About 4,200 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK to live with a Scottish sponsor - 2,035 have an individual sponsor and 2,236 have the Scottish government as super sponsor.

The SNP's Stephanie Callaghan asks about families struggling with school-meal debt, and the recent Aberlour children's charity report which found that more than £1m was owed by families across Scotland for school meals.

She says some councils are chasing this debt and asks if this should be written off.

The first minister says she is "deeply uncomfortable" with families being pursued for debt for school meals in the current economic crisis.

She says she is sympathetic to calls for this debt to be written off and has asked Scottish government officials to speak to Cosla about what more can be done to help families.

Willie Rennie is also concerned about education.

The Lib Dem MSP says young people want to know why the first minister has "given up on them" and on closing the attainment gap by 2026.

The first minster says simply: "We haven't".

She stands by the policy and says there has been progress. She says she is proud of improving the numbers of young people from the most deprived communities going to university.

Image source, PA Media

Tory MSP Sue Webber asks for an update on what is being done to close the attainment gap.

Ms Sturgeon lists several developments:

• £1bn investment
• Record high proportion of full-time first degree entrants to universities came from 20% most deprived areas last year
• continued support for head teachers through equity funding

Ms Webber cites the spending review which contains cuts in education spending, children and family spending and in skills, training and higher education and student support and asks if the SNP government has abandoned education as a priority?

The first minister says again that funding depends on decisions made by the UK government.

Labour's Jackie Baillie also asks about funding - and cuts to the Scottish Personal Assistance Employers Network which allows disabled people to pay for help to live independent lives.

She says more than 500 personal assistants will not be paid this week.

Nicola Sturgeon says she is asking minister Kevin Stewart to meet with the organisation as a matter of urgency and says she wants to see a solution found.

Tory MSP Stephen Kerr brings up the Scottish government's spending review.

He says public services are facing drastic spending cuts and asks the FM if she agrees with the Scottish Police Federation that that the spending review has been good for criminals.

The first minister says there has been a reduction in crime and crime rates are the lowest since 1974.

She blames spending cuts on the UK government.

Labour MSP Carol Mochan asks about the recent "intimidating behaviour" outside the Sandyford clinic which she says appears to be escalating.

There have been fresh calls for buffer zones to be set up around abortion clinics to prevent activists targeting patients and staff.

Mr Mochan says: "It appears local and national governments are at an impasse...in the short term we need measures to protect these women."

She calls for the government to write to councils before the summit in the summer.

The first minister has said in a previous FMQs that she would chair an emergency summit on buffer zones.

This week Ms Sturgeon says she will write to councils offering support in a very public way.

There are legal complexities around this issue, adds the first minister. She says she would prefer to legislate on the issue.

"I find what is happening outside hospitals and outside the Sandyford completely and utterly unacceptable," she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Tory MSP Liam Kerr says bids to be one of Scotland's two freeports are "simply flying in", but "thanks to the dither and delay of the Scottish government we are considerably behind the rest of the UK.

The special economic zones, offering tax breaks and lower business tariffs, are being promoted by the UK government as part of its "levelling-up" agenda.

Mr Kerr asks if the first minister agrees that freeports are an example of where Scotland's two governments can work together.

The first minister says that had Scotland gone with the UK government timetable there would have been considerably less cash to invest in freeports.

Mr Sarwar says all the first minister is offering are "hollow words".

He makes some suggestions for improving mental health services and says changes are required for them to be taken seriously.

He asks for:

• reform of the referral and triage system
• a mental health professional in every GP practice
• access to face-to-face mental health services for every pupil in primary and secondary schools

Ms Sturgeon says there is nothing Mr Sarwar is suggesting that isn't already being done.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Sarwar says the first minister cannot blame the pandemic. He says waiting lists were high before Covid hit.

He speaks of a 14-year-old with suicidal thoughts who has not been seen by professionals in 11 months.

The first minister says specifications have been published on what levels of service young people can expect from CAMHS.

She says the Scottish government is investing in more staff, and building up more community-based services.

She mentions the appointment of counsellors in all secondary schools and says she will continue to invest in and reform mental health services.

She makes the point that more and more young people are coming forward for treatment which is to be welcomed but that increases pressure on services.

Image source, bbc

Background

The number of children being referred for mental health care in Scotland has risen by 22% since last year.

The latest Public Health Scotland (PHS) data, external shows 9,672 were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) from January to March.

In that quarter, 73.2% were seen within 18 weeks - a slight increase from 72.7% during the same period last year.

The Scottish government said it was committed to its 18-week target for 90% of patients beginning treatment.

It has invested £40m to improve CAMHS and aims to clear all backlogs by March 2023.

Read more here.

Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar asks about the 10,000 young people on mental health treatment waiting lists.

He mentions a constituent whose autistic son has waited for 10 months to see a psychiatrist and have medication prescribed.

He says the eight-year-old is suffering with no support and has begged for medication "to sort out my head".

Ms Sturgeon says the boy shouldn't suffer and the wait is not acceptable, but says investments are being made for health boards to catch up on the impact of the pandemic.

She says that in the most recent quarter, there was a 7.7% rise in the number of children starting treatment in CAMHS services, 20% more than the previous year, and there was an increase in the numbers starting treatment within 12 weeks of a referral.

She adds that £80m extra has been invested in CAMHS since 2019/20 and says: "These are tough challenges. We cannot magic away the impact of a pandemic but we are supporting the health service to recover."

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says she is happy to look into individual cases but says that in general terms Mr Ross is mischaracterising the situation.

Ms Sturgeon says waiting times are worse in England than they are in Scotland, including A&Es.

Mr Ross quotes another clinician who says the problems are not all due to the pandemic.

He argues there are problems that have built up over years and years.

The Scottish Tory leader says the situation is far worse this year with patients being sent to England for treatment.

He cites the case of Alan Turner, a 70-year-old from Kelso who was told he would have to wait up to three years to get a new knee in Scotland.

Mr Turner travelled south, reluctantly, and got his operation but he is now back to square one, he says.

Mr Ross says he has a patient in "Lossie who has been waiting four-and-a-half years" to get the operation he needs.

The Scottish Tory leader says longer waiting times are a problem across every area of the NHS.

How bad will the NHS be by winter?, asks Mr Ross.

The first minister replies: "There is not a health service literally on the planet that has not had to deal with the impacts of a pandemic."

She insists that before the pandemic, waiting times were improving and she reiterates there are "tentative" signs of improvement.

In terms of the case cited in the media, Ms Sturgeon says: "No, I don't think that is acceptable and I know that a review of that particular appointment, which is a follow-up outpatient appointment not a first outpatient appointment, is being undertaken."

The first minister accepts that waiting times lasting for an unacceptable time have increased due to the impact of a global pandemic.

She insists there are record numbers of staff working in the NHS and money is being invested significantly in the NHS Recovery Plan.

Image source, bbc

Background

Staff at a GP surgery in Dumfries say they are "just as frustrated" with waiting times for appointments as their patients.

The Charlotte Medical Practice says it is working at full force - but staff still receive abuse and threats from people seeking medical treatment.

It comes after a survey suggested public satisfaction with GP services was at its lowest level in over a decade.

The Scottish government says it is investing to increase GP numbers.

But Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has warned the delays faced by some patients in getting a GP appointment are part of the huge challenges faced by the NHS in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more here.

Mr Ross reiterates his question asking how many patients are now waiting over two years for treatment.

The Scottish Tory leader answers his own question, saying 10,613 in Scotland have waited more than two years.

"That's a sixteen-fold increase in a year," Mr Ross tells the chamber.

"Things are getting worse, far worse, not better."

He turns to reports of a patient getting a cardiology appointment in two years' time.

Mr Ross asks if getting an appointment in July 2024 is acceptable.

There are more people now waiting for treatment in the NHS which is why the NHS Recovery Plan is so important to improve waiting times, replies Nicola Sturgeon.

The first minister says health boards must target those waiting the longest.

Before the pandemic there was an improvement in waiting times, continues Ms Sturgeon, but the "pandemic obviously had a significant impact".

"We are starting to see tentative signs of improvement as a result of the actions that we are seeing."