SNP & Greens block Liberal Democrat plans to fix GP crisis and bring down waits

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today accused the Scottish Government of “living in la-la land” as SNP and Green MSPs opposed his party’s proposals to address the problems in general practice and bring down long waits for treatment.

The motion, tabled by Scottish Liberal Democrats and debated in Parliament earlier this afternoon, called on the government to rewrite the failed NHS Recovery Plan to get recruitment and retention of staff back on track and build stronger local health services by expanding the range of services and specialists available, including in fields such as mental health and physiotherapy.

Earlier this week, Scottish Liberal Democrats revealed that as many as one in five Scots say their mental health had been impacted by long GP and hospital waits.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“The Scottish Government is driving local health services into the ground, and it seems they’re happy to keep it that way.

“Hundreds of thousands of Scots are finding it near-impossible to see their GP and waiting months for hospital treatment. The government has compounded these problems by slashing a brutal £30m from the mental health budget and failing to get enough mental health practitioners working alongside GPs.

“Today’s motion would have seen ministers changing course, backing Liberal Democrat plans for more specialists in areas such as mental health and physiotherapy and ensuring swift access to care close to home.

“Instead, the SNP have shown that they simply do not care. Despite this being the one of the biggest issues that comes up on doorsteps across the country, the SNP are happy to live in la-la land while waits spiral and patients suffer.”