THE SNP has created a two-tier health system where “the price of poverty is pain,” said Scottish Labour yesterday, as record numbers of people go to private care for treatment.

The accusations come after freedom of information requests to Scotland’s health boards showed that 36,818 Scots have left NHS dentists for private dental care since 2019 and figures published by the Private Healthcare Information Network revealed numbers self-paying to enter hospital had soared by 11 per cent between 2022 and 2023 to 21,000, the highest on record.