NHS hospital bed numbers in Scotland have fallen by more than 2,000 over the last five years, new figures show.
Nicola Sturgeon's SNP Government has been accused of overseeing cuts in vital beds in hospitals across the country.
According to data released by ISD Scotland at the end of December last year there were an average of 20,021 staffed beds each day within hospitals.
Five years ago in December 2015 there were 22,078 beds staffed by the NHS.
During that time numbers slumped below 20,000 to 19,801 between July and September 2020 throughout the coronavirus pandemic which crippled NHS services.
The highest number of hospital beds was between January and March 2016 when 22,237 were being staffed across the health boards.
Scotland in Union, a pro-UK group, has criticised the SNP government for neglecting the country's NHS.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: "This is further proof that the SNP has neglected Scotland’s NHS while it obsesses about breaking up the UK.
"The figures show a reduction of more than 2,000 beds available each day since the same point five years ago.
"In that time the population has increased, meaning the NHS has been put under considerable strain.
"And when the health service was at its most vulnerable during the Covid pandemic, bed numbers dropped below 20,000 for the first time.
"SNP ministers have chosen to reduce the number of beds, and they owe it to the public to explain why."
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Over recent years the average length of stay in hospital for a range of procedures has reduced across the developed world as treatment techniques have evolved and improved. Coupled with the shift to deliver more care out of hospital and in the community has seen reductions in bed numbers across the U.K.
"However, Scotland continues to maintain a substantially higher acute and general bed numbers per head of population than in NHS England.
“We are undertaking a programme of record investment and ambitious reform across our health and social care sector to ensure it is ready to deliver care in the most appropriate environment – both now and in the future.
“On top of our record funding for the frontline NHS, over the course of this parliament we will increase funding for social care by 25%, including the creation of a National Care Service – the biggest reform undertaken since the founding of the NHS.”
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