Former SNP health secretary Michael Matheson has criticised First Minister John Swinney's plan to reduce Scotland's NHS health boards from 14 to two, dismissing it as "fool's gold" that will not by itself improve patient outcomes. The criticism, delivered on STV's Scotland Tonight, comes as A&E waiting times in Scotland hit their second-worst level on record and adds to pressure on Swinney over his wider public sector reform agenda, which opposition politicians say lacks detail.

Swinney unveiled the health board cuts in last week's Programme for Government, framing them as the "most significant structural reform" of the NHS, alongside plans to streamline Scotland's 32 councils and 135 quangos, though he has not specified resulting job losses. Public Health Scotland data showed 11,811 people, or 39% of patients, waited longer than the four-hour A&E target in the week to 30 August. Separately, Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan faced criticism after suggesting reforms could create new bodies as well as cut them, citing Scottish Screen's split from Creative Scotland, prompting Scottish Tory and Reform UK figures to accuse the SNP of contradicting its own reform pledges.