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Angus CochraneSenior political journalist, BBC Scotland
Anas Sarwar unveiled his party's manifesto at an event in Edinburgh
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has put improving the NHS at the centre of his pitch to voters ahead of next month's Holyrood election.
Sarwar said his party would end the 08:00 rush for GP appointments, cut waiting times and reduce bureaucracy in the health system.
Labour has also pledged childcare tax breaks for parents, to fix potholes and to lift a Scottish government block on new nuclear power.
Sarwar said the choice at this election was between "more of the same with the SNP or change with Scottish Labour".
Speaking at an event in Edinburgh, he said after nearly two decades in power, the SNP had "lost their way".
He continued: "They've had 20 years, I'm asking you to give me five."
A former dentist, Sarwar said fixing the NHS was "personal" for him.
His party's manifesto includes plans to negotiate a new contract with GPs to free up appointments, to use spare capacity in the NHS to reduce waiting times and to cut administration by reducing the number of health board areas from 14 to three.
The number of long waits of over a year for a planned hospital appointment or procedure in Scotland has been falling since July.
"Patients and staff can't risk a third decade of the SNP in government," Sarwar said.
Labour pledged to set up a new emergency mental health response service and to put mental health support workers in GP practices.
Sarwar said his party would introduce an NHS app, AI scanners in hospitals and new screening programmes.
But a defiant Sarwar told reporters that he was looking forward "to proving you all wrong" on 7 May.
Launching his party's election pitch, he said: "This manifesto is about more than rescuing our NHS after years of failure.
"It is about making Scotland work again, making life more affordable for families, giving all our young people the chance to succeed, building the homes people need, backing Scottish jobs and Scottish businesses and making sure that government respects your money and focuses on the things that matter."
Sarwar said that if energy prices continue to rise due to the war in Iran his government would deliver a £100m emergency support package.
He told the event this would include loans for energy-intensive industries, bulk buying fuel to bring down prices and crisis grants and loans for households.
The Scottish Labour leader also claimed his party would arrange an emergency summit of supermarkets to bring down prices of staple items.
He vowed to eradicate homelessness and rough sleeping "once and for all", to overhaul planning to speed up decisions and to improve energy efficiency in people's homes.
Scottish Labour's key manifesto pledges
- Use NHS capacity across Scotland and the UK to end long waits
- A GP appointment within 48 hours for those who need one
- Use technology to improve treatment, early diagnosis and make life easier for patients
- New emergency mental health response service
- Top up tax-free childcare to £3,000 per child and funding two weeks of summer holiday clubs
- No income tax rises in the next five years
- "Fair" funding for local communities
- Cut government waste and reduce the number of arms-length public bodies
- Breakfast clubs in every primary school, ban mobile phones in classrooms, 2,000 education recovery teachers and 1,500 more classroom assistants
- 9,000 new apprenticeships
- Build 125,000 homes
- Replace the business rates system with a local business levy
- Ending the block on clean nuclear energy
- Build the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and provide better, faster and more reliable trains and buses across the country
- Community police officers for every neighbourhood
- £350m potholes fund to repair up to 5m potholes
- Give constituents the ability to recall MSPs who do not uphold public standards
