Cole-Hamilton accuses SNP of serial failures on A&E, care and drugs

Responding to new A&E figures showing that during the week ending 20th July, 3,139 (11.4%) patients spent more than 8 hours in A&E, while 1,146 (4.2%) spent more than 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“People are waiting excruciatingly long at A&E because the SNP have failed to fix the crisis. Staff and patients are trapped in pressure cooker conditions.

“Since the target was last met, there has been a merry-go-round of four SNP health secretaries, but not a single one has ever made a dent.

“Unlike the SNP, my party is full of ideas for getting our NHS back on its feet, and you can vote for those plans by backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the peach regional ballot paper at next May’s election.”

Responding to the new figures showing that there are more than 10,000 people currently waiting on social care assessments and care at home packages, an 8% increase since May, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“Under the SNP, people are stuck in hospital, prevented from getting on with their lives.

“You can’t fix the NHS unless you fix care because the more patients are delayed in hospital, the longer people wait at A&E and the longer ambulances wait outside the front door.

“Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats are focused on fixing care. Just look at the millions more we secured for care in our budget negotiations. You can vote for more bright solutions like that at next May’s election by putting a cross beside my party on the peach regional ballot paper.”

Responding to the Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) report, which shows a 19% rise in drug-related emergency department attendances and a 15% rise in suspected drug deaths compared to the previous quarter, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“This is a damning indictment of Scotland’s drugs emergency.

“Drug misuse casts a long shadow across the country, which is why my party made access to drug and alcohol services a major part of our budget negotiations earlier this year.

“If SNP ministers are serious about tackling this crisis, they need to properly support staff and services, deliver essential counselling and mental health support and introduce new drug checking facilities. That’s how we can stop people dying and get them the help they need.”