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Labour MSP Jackie Baillie raises the issue of the proposed closure to the maternity unit in the Vale of Leven.

The first minister says her government is committed to the Vision of the Vale and if Labour had won the 2007 election it was highly unlikely the Vale of Leven would still be open.

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Ms Sturgeon says there are record numbers of staff in the NHS and it is recieving record funding.

The first minister says the government continues to invest to build up the capacity in the NHS.

Ms Dugdale says Audit Scotland told the government £500m must be cut in this year from health boards.

The first minister says Audit Scotland said overall staff levels are at the highest level ever.

The chief executive of the NHS in Scotland, Paul Gray, has said sorry to those patients who have had to wait longer than they should for treatment.

He made his apology during an evidence session to MSPs on Holyrood's health committee last month.

Last week watchdog Audit Scotland reported that the Scottish NHS had met only one of its eight key waiting time targets last year.

MSPs also heard from Scotland's Health Secretary Shona Robison.

She said she wanted all patients to be treated quickly and efforts were being made to improve the system in order to cut the amount of time patients wait.

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Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale asks how many NHS patients were not seen within 12 weeks since the legal guarantee was introduced.

Ms Sturgeon says 53,257 patients waited longer than 12 weeks.

She says waiting times are lower than when the SNP took office.

Ms Dugdale asks how bad things have to get before the first minister steps in to fix this "mess".

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Ms Davidson says the evidence points to an education system that is broken.

She says there is a stubbornly wide attainment gap, literacy and numeracy levels falling and exams that are the worst teachers have ever seen.

The Scottish Conservative leader calls for a root and branch review to prevent further pupils failing.

Ms Sturgeon hits back saying there are record exam passes in Scotland

The first minister says there are record number of young people going into positive destinations after school.

She again says John Swinney is tackling red tape and bureaucracy in education.

Teachers will be "empowered" to take the best decisions for their pupils in a major review of how schools are run in Scotland, John Swinney said in September.

The education secretary has launched a consultation on the governance arrangements for schools, which could give them substantial new powers.

Mr Swinney said councils would remain democratically accountable for schools.

But he said the government's aim would be to give schools and head teachers as much power as possible.

Mr Swinney also outlined plans to create regional education boards to encourage co-operation across council areas.

The actual details of what powers will go to schools and which ones are to remain with councils will now be discussed.

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Ms Davidson says the government has had 10 years and keep going on about jam tomorrow.

The Scottish Conservative leader says there is a loss of confidence from across the chamber.

She says SQA staff are trying to do their best under trying circumstance.

The first minister says Ms Davidson is doing a disservice to the work that is going on in education.

Ms Sturgeon again points to the governance review.

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Scotland's education agencies may not be fit for purpose, according to the Scottish Conservatives.

They have called for a major reform of Education Scotland, claiming it suffers from a conflict of interest.

The government agency was criticised by a majority of teachers who responded to a survey for Holyrood's education committee.

Education secretary John Swinney said it was important to listen to the criticism and reflect upon it.

But he warned that the result of the online survey should be treated with caution as it polled the opinions of just 211 of Scotland's 50,000 teachers.

Liz Smith, the Scottish Conservative's education spokeswoman, said the survey highlighted a lack of confidence in education agencies.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson asks if the first minister has confidence in education governance.

Ms Davidson says teachers are swamped with 20,000 pages of guidance on the Curriculum for Excellence.

She asks who should be responsible for this failure.

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Ms Sturgeon says she does not agree it is a failure, but says she is responsible.

The first minister says the education secretary is working on simplifying the guidance and reducing the bureaucracy.

She says the Scottish government takes education very seriously.

Nicola Sturgeon says she is determined to play her part to challenge the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Ruth Davidson agrees, as they both mark World AIDS Day.

Scottish Conservative MSP Ruth Davidson asks what engagements the first minister has planned for the rest of the day.  

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles asks the Scottish government whether it will provide an update on when construction will start on the A90 grade-separated junction at Laurencekirk.

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Economy Secretary Keith Brown says phase two of the enterprise and skills review will take forward a commitment to establish a new vehicle to oversee enterprise and skills.

Mr Brown says it is to the credit of the SNP government that they have taken forward measures to help in the south of Scotland.

He says phase two will look at the governance of the agencies.

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The Scottish government has set out plans to reform Scotland's enterprise and skills agencies.

It has proposed setting up a new Scotland-wide statutory board to co-ordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

The government said services already provided in the Highlands and Islands would be protected.

A new service has also been proposed for the south of Scotland.

The activities of Scottish Enterprise and HIE include the running of Scottish Development International, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.