Cole-Hamilton: SNP smashing up promises on delayed discharges

Responding to new Public Health Scotland figures showing 1,857 people were stuck in hospital at the June census due to their discharge being delayed, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“Ten years ago, the SNP promised that no one who was fit to leave hospital would be left stuck there.

"That SNP promise is constantly being broken. They are failing to provide the care people need at home or in the community, leaving around 2,000 patients trapped in hospital every month.

“When people are delayed in leaving hospital, there is a shortage of beds for incoming patients, ramping up waiting times and pressures in emergency departments.

"Fixing the care crisis is at the very heart of the Liberal Democrat offer to the country. We want to see a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers, £2 higher than the national minimum wage, to tackle the chronic staff shortages in care and make social care a profession of choice.

"Every vote for the Liberal Democrats next year will be a vote to fix social care and save our NHS."