David Cameron has repeated inaccurate claims about the impact of independence on Scotland’s NHS in an interview given during his visit to Scotland yesterday.

The Prime Minister told the BBC that Scottish independence would have “consequences for the NHS”.

Scotland’s NHS is already independent, having been established by a separate Act of the UK Parliament and then fully devolved under the Scotland Act.

SNP MSP Bob Doris, deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee, responded to Mr Cameron’s remarks, saying:

“Either the Prime Minister doesn’t know that the Scottish NHS is already - and always has been - independent, or he is deliberately repeating scare stories. Either way, his suggestion that Scottish independence would have “consequences” for the NHS is entirely misleading.

“It’s precisely because Scotland’s NHS is already independent and fully controlled by the Scottish Parliament that means it is protected from the systematic dismantling of the NHS as a public service that is happening south of the border.

“The only consequences of independence for Scottish health services will be that their protected, independent status will be reinforced.

"Far from there being any negative consequences for our health services, the example of how Scotland is able to protect our independent NHS makes an unanswerable case for the Scottish Parliament having full control of all of our own affairs. It's time for Scotland to be able to take action to protect all of our public services as we do the NHS - but we can only do that with independence."