If you are just joining us, here are the key points from Humza Yousaf's NHS winter pressures statement.

• Health and Social Care Partnerships will share £8m to procure around 300 additional care home beds to help alleviate pressures caused by delayed discharge
• The money is coming from the existing health and social care budget
• The funding will allow boards to pay 25% over and above the National Care Home rate for beds.
• This is in addition to around 600 interim care beds already in operation across the country
• NHS 24 is taking forward plans to recruit around 200 new starts before the end of March
• In the run up to Christmas, NHS 24 had already recruited over 40 whole-time equivalent call operators, call handlers and clinical supervisors
• Guidance has been issued to all health boards making it clear they can take necessary steps to protect critical and life-saving care

Mr Yousaf confirms the £8m for 300 interim care home beds will come from the existing health and social care budget.

He tells MSPs all funds have been allocated for the current financial year.

“Every penny is allocated, this is not additional finance coming from central finance,” the health secretary says. “So we would have to find that money from within the health and social care budget.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton points to figures from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that as many as 40 people a week may be dying in Scottish accident and emergency departments as a result of this crisis.

He calls for an urgent government inquiry into avoidable deaths in Scotland’s hospitals.

Mr Yousaf accepts that if patients are waiting for “excessively long periods” for urgent care then they are likelier to come to harm.

He says every individual death would have to be examined to establish the “true scale” of the issue.

The health secretary says he will consider Mr Cole-Hamilton’s proposal for an inquiry.

Mr Yousaf replies to Jackie Baillie that he notices Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is also missing from the chamber today.

The health secretary says at a time of national emergency the people rightly expect their political leaders to rise above their petty political differences.

He expects to see improvement in delayed discharge and waiting times once people are moved from an acute setting to the additional beds.

Mr Yousaf says, up until April this year, an additional 750 nurses will be recruited.

Jackie Baillie responds for Scottish Labour and says this "crisis" was predicted by clinicians and the health secretary has been warned about it for well over a year.

"He's failed to listen," she says.

She argues the government has presided over inadequate workforce planning for the NHS.

She asks how many of the 1,000 additional staff are deployed and looks for further information on the additional 300 beds.

The Scottish Labour health spokesperson also asks why the first minister is not in the chamber.

Mr Yousaf says he expects January to be “extremely challenging” for the NHS.

In response to Mr Gulhane, the health secretary says there may be a "slight increase" in viral infections as schools and workplaces reopen following the festive break.

But he hopes the new measures he has announced – including extra interim care beds and extra NHS 24 staff – will lead to an improvement in NHS performance in the short term.

Scottish Tory health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane says the NHS crisis is a “national emergency” and that “people are dying unnecessarily”.

He points to A&E waiting times, cancer treatment waiting times and delayed discharge rates being at the worst levels on record.

The Conservative MSP accuses the health secretary of failing to properly plan for a winter crisis.

He calls for “real, meaningful change in our NHS”.

Mr Yousaf says the issues facing Scotland’s NHS are the same issues facing health services across the UK.

He insists the government did plan for this winter and formulated plans long before the Scottish Tories.

The health secretary points to a Winter Plan backed by £600m in government funding.

The health secretary says the government is offering more support outside hospital settings to assist people, like through NHS Inform.

GPs and pharmacies can also provide non-critical emergency care, he says.

Mr Yousaf tells MSPs the majority of trade unions have accepted the Scottish government's pay deal.

He says he will continue to pursue meaningful dialogue with all unions to try to avoid industrial action.

The NHS crisis is having a severe impact on accident and emergency services, though the health secretary says Scotland’s emergency departments are outperforming those in other parts of the UK.

He adds that is “cold comfort for those who are waiting far too long for treatment”.

The health secretary says the government plans to recruit an extra 1,000 NHS staff to help tackle record wait times.

Image source, PA Media

Mr Yousaf says the government will also bolster workforce capacity within NHS 24 which is an "incredibly effective service".

The health secretary says NHS 24 is taking forward plans to recruit around 200 new starts before the end of March.

In the run up to Christmas, NHS 24 had already recruited over 40 whole-time equivalent call operators, call handlers and clinical supervisors.

Mr Yousaf says there are a record number of patients being delayed from leaving hospital under the patients with incapacity legislation.

This is in place for patients who are clinically ready for discharge but cannot be discharged without a court-appointed guardian being in place.

He says officials are investigating processes to ensure patients are discharged “in a timely manner”.

The health secretary says guidance has been issued to health boards that they should take steps to protect critical and life-saving care if necessary.

He says local health boards are best placed to decide what measures should be taken in each area.

These measures could include opening or procuring additional capacity, moving staff to “areas of pressure”, increased involvement with third sector bodies, or delivering a “different model of care for a short period of time”.

The health secretary says he recognises further emergency measures which could be ordered by the government, such as a blanket pause of elective procedures or key diagnostic tests, would significantly impact patients.

Mr Yousaf says the scheme to find extra capacity in care homes to help relieve pressure on hospitals is temporary.

He says the government recognises care home beds may not be the "first choice" of patients of families, but says it's about making the best choice available.

It will only be in place for a limited period of time to support hospitals to deal with pressures “at the front door”, the health secretary says.

This is an in-extremis, time-limited measure and 300 additional interim beds will be made available, explains Mr Yousaf.

This is in addition to the 600 interim beds that are already helping patients in the system.

"We will work with partners to utilise every bed available.

"This is about making the best possible choice for those in our care."

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Yousaf turns to delayed discharges and says there are more than 1,700 people currently in hospital who need not be.

The health secretary explains this is because care packages simply are not in place.

He says the local government body Cosla has worked with the Scottish government to identify additional interim spaces within care homes.

A total of £8m of funding will be made available to help achieve this.

Mr Yousaf outlines the impact of Covid, flu and Strep A on the NHS.

Last week's figures showed bed occupancy in Scotland's hospitals at over 95%.

The health secretary says the challenge is significant and Brexit has had "dire consequences" for the NHS as far as staffing and recruitment is concerned.

He wants to pursue "an-all systems approach" to tackle the pressures.

Image source, Getty Images

"This is the single most challenging winter that the NHS in Scotland has ever faced," the health secretary says.

Mr Yousaf details the "perfect storm" of pressures it faces.

He points out the full recovery of the NHS will take years.

Humza Yousaf is finally on his feet to deliver the NHS statement.

The health secretary begins by saying the NHS is facing "extraordinary pressures".

Image source, PA Media

Now we'll move to the somewhat delayed health secretary's statement outlining plans to deal with the unprecedented pressures on the NHS.

Humza Yousaf will give further details of measures to reduce unnecessary hospital attendances and to speed up discharges.

At a press conference yesterday Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland's hospitals were "almost completely full".

Today Mr Yousaf will officially announce plans to increase staffing of the NHS 24 helpline.

There will also be extra cash for health and social care partnerships to book additional care home beds, to free up space on hospital wards.

Scottish Labour have said the latest waiting time and delayed discharge figures show NHS Scotland is "fighting for its life".

The party's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: "In a single week, thousands of Scots were stuck waiting more than half a day in A&E, putting lives at risk and putting staff in an impossible position.

"Delayed discharge continues to spiral and pile pressure on services, despite one empty SNP pledge after another to end the practice.

"Staff are exhausted, patients are in danger and the very future of our NHS is at stake."