Soldiers will be driving ambulances in Glasgow from this weekend as part of a package of measures to deal with a waiting times crisis.

Humza Yousaf, Health Secretary, confirmed more than 100 military personnel would be drafted in with 88 drivers and 15 support staff deployed to help the NHS.

The drivers will be paired with a clinical professional and will only be used on non-emergency work.

The military will be used to support the ambulance service in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Fife and Edinburgh.

Fire and Rescue Service staff, private transport firms and the Red Cross will also be used to transport patients.

Paramedic students will be brought into work in ambulance control rooms.

Yousaf outlined the measures in Holyrood today as opposition parties said the NHS was in crisis.

Labour called for field hospitals to be set up to take some pressure off.

Yousaf said: "All going well, some of those military personnel will be ready to be deployed and driving ambulances this weekend."

He added: “The global pandemic has created the most challenging crisis in the history of the NHS. Ambulance services around the UK, as well as the wider NHS, are experiencing unprecedented demand – largely because of COVID-19, but also due to a combination of increasingly complex cases, and exceptionally busy emergency departments.

“The Scottish Ambulance Service is the heartbeat of our NHS. It has a unique role in engaging with all parts of the health and social care system across the whole of Scotland - 24 hours of every day.

"It is vital that we ensure it has the support it needs to perform this crucial role.”

Jackie Baillie Labour’s health spokesperson said: “The crisis in our NHS is spiralling ever further out of control and lives are being lost.   

“Services and staff are at breaking point, but the Cabinet Secretary has been entirely missing in action.   

“That’s why today Scottish Labour is tabling a series of proposals that will help to get the situation back under control and better prepared for the winter months.   

 “We need to see field hospitals to ease the pressure on the NHS and the adoption of a 30 minute ambulance turnaround time to save lives. 

“There is simply no time to lose. If we are to tackle the unfolding crisis in our NHS, every party must unite around these calls.”