Cole-Hamilton criticises SNP over new A&E and drugs reports

Responding to new A&E figures showing 2,472 (9.5%) patients spent more than 8 hours in A&E and 941 (3.6%) spent more than 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“Staff are stuck working under pressure cooker conditions and patients are stuck having to wait hours for vital care.

"We are now on our fourth different Health Secretary since this SNP government last met the A&E waiting time target. Successive SNP appointees have come and gone without making a dent.

"If you're frustrated with the SNP making you wait to access the NHS, vote Scottish Liberal Democrats on your peach regional ballot and back a party which will put in the hard graft to fix our NHS.”

On the Evaluation of the National Mission on Drug Deaths: Lived experience survey, which revealed that just over half of respondents reported that, overall, they were receiving all or most of the support they needed and revealed dramatic levels of unmet need for counselling and mental health support, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“When 100 people a month are dying in Scotland’s drug deaths emergency, patchwork care isn’t good enough.

“Drug misuse casts a long shadow across Scotland. That’s 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 issue, they need to properly support services and staff, deliver essential counselling and mental health support and introduce new drug checking facilities. That’s how we can stop people dying and get people the help they need.”