It has been revealed that hundreds of armed forces personnel will be deployed this weekend to support the Scottish Ambulance Service and to relieve strain on the NHS.
110 soldiers will be supplied in order to drive ambulances over the weekend.
A further 111 troops will be sent to operate Covid-19 mobile testing units - something the military had previously helped to run in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Personnel from The Royal Highland Fusiliers and staff members from the Ministry of Defence are believed to be deployed for around two months.
The news arrives as the four hour A&E waiting times have fallen to the poorest level since records began.
Those arriving at hospitals are being asked to wait hours to be admitted and ambulances are being stuck in queues unable to respond to calls for new patients, STV news has revealed.
The strain on the service has been caused by Covid-19 patients taking up beds.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is also expected to step in to offer their assistance to the struggling ambulance service.
After a grandad died having waited 40 hours for paramedics a doctor had told the STV News service that the Scottish Ambulance Service is at “crisis point”.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, said that the call for support was undertaken ahead of “an incredibly challenging winter.”
On Friday afternoon, Yousaf will meet Army personnel who are training for the deployment.
