“LONG overdue” staffing plans designed to tackle the increasing pressures on Scotland’s NHS have been unveiled by the Scottish government.

Today, ministers announced that hundreds of district nurses and dozens of psychologists would be recruited as part of Britain’s first integrated health and social-care workforce plan.

The scheme hopes to boost the amount of people receiving care at home by 2024 and free up hospital resources. Rises in the numbers of mental-health professionals and student nurses are also proposed.

A new service will also be created using £600,000 of Scottish government cash to train radiologists in mechanical thrombectomy — which removes blood clots.

The initiative has been welcomed by Scottish Labour, which says there now needs to be action to ensure the NHS is properly resourced.

Party health spokeswoman Monica Lennon MSP said: “This plan is long overdue and while we welcome some of these announcements, not least the establishment of a thrombectomy service, what we now need to see is action from SNP ministers to actually deliver the workforce and resources that our NHS needs.

“NHS staff are under pressure and overworked, and Scottish Labour has repeatedly raised concerns about staff wellbeing.

“Predictions that Scotland needs an additional 20,000 staff in the next four years are concerning, particularly given the SNP government’s track record of failing to get a grip on the significant vacancies that currently persist across our health and social care services.”

The thrombectomy service training to be extended across the country, is already in place in NHS Tayside, which will work with the government on the national programme.

The social-care plan for the whole of Scotland has also been written in partnership with local authority body Cosla.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “This is the UK’s first integrated health and social-care workforce plan and it will be invaluable in helping us to anticipate and respond to the changing and growing demand faced by our health and social care services.

“One key example of this is our commitment to create a national thrombectomy service to treat stroke victims — a vital step in the planning and delivery of a comprehensive stroke service for Scotland.”