Cole-Hamilton responds to ‘damning’ IFS briefing on NHS

Responding to a new briefing from the IFS that Scotland’s NHS recovery is lagging behind that of England, with waits at A&E and for cancer treatment, diagnostic tests and elective treatment all rising north of the border but falling in England, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“This is a damning indictment of the SNP’s failure to tackle the crisis in our NHS.

“Ministers have repeatedly boasted about Scotland’s superior performance to England, but this report makes a total mockery of those claims.

“Hundreds of thousands of Scots are stuck on an NHS waiting list. Every day people sit in agony at A&E departments, wondering if they will ever be seen.

“This government must stop making up bogus excuses and finally confront the emergency in front of them. That starts by rewriting Humza Yousaf’s botched NHS Recovery Plan and repairing the crisis in social care so that more people can leave hospital on time. You can’t fix the NHS without fixing care.”