Woman in Far North stuck in hospital for over 400 days waiting for care

At today’s session of First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP raised the case of a woman from the Far North who has been stuck in hospital for over 400 days because a shortage of carers means she cannot return home.

Margaret MacGill's case was first raised with Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Jamie Stone, who has written to the Chief Executive of NHS Highland, urging the health board to provide the care she needs to return home.

It comes as a report published today shows that delays in people leaving hospital are costing the NHS in Scotland at least £440 million a year, with the full cost to the health and social care system likely to be much higher.

Alex Cole-Hamilton warned the First Minister that you cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care.

Speaking in the chamber, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“In November 2024, 62-year-old Margaret MacGill was rushed to hospital. She’d become paralysed from the waist down with a rare spinal condition known as Cauda Equina.

“They think it was caused by lifting both her disabled son and the patients in her care as an auxiliary nurse and then as a social care worker herself.

“Margaret has been in hospital, first in Raigmore, now in Wick, for over 400 days.

“The family home was adapted and ready for her last April. The ramps were installed. Doors widened. A whole extension’s been built.

“What’s missing are the carers. The staff she needs to drop by to help her. So, Margaret is still in hospital.

“Her husband Cathol told me this morning that she is a positive and vibrant woman, but she is struggling. She just wants to get out of hospital.

 “So can the First Minister tell me what is it going to take to get Margaret home?”

He went onto say:

“The brutal irony of this story is that Margaret herself was a care worker. Throughout her career, she has offered support that is now unavailable to her.

“She should have been home within 14 weeks, but she’s been in hospital for 14 months.

“It’s happening the length and breadth of the country. Scotland deserves better than this.

“That’s why my party has made care a priority in our discussions over the Scottish Budget.

“It’s now been ten years since Shona Robison as Health Secretary promised to get rid of delayed discharge altogether.

“Yet two thousand people are marooned in hospital every single day.

“It’s a care bottleneck that means cancelled surgeries, endless waits in A&E and ambulances stacking up outside hospitals.

“This morning, we learned that it’s costing the NHS at least £1.2 million a day. But the cost to Margaret and people like her is incalculable.

“When will the penny finally drop for the SNP? That you cannot fix the crisis in our NHS until you fix the crisis in care.”  

Jamie Stone Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross said:

“When Cathol and Margaret first raised their case with me several months ago, they were at their wit’s end.

“Margaret has been in hospital for over 400 days, and it’s having a serious impact on the lives of both her and her husband. It’s why I’ve been making representations to the health board, writing to the Chief Executive of NHS Highland to explain what Margaret and Cathol have had to go through.

“Margaret just wants to get home, but she is still in hospital. It feels like we are banging our heads against a brick wall.

“This is an issue that has been repeatedly raised with myself and my team. We are currently supporting 10 families who have had long-term waits in hospital or have been completely unable to get home care.

“John Swinney now needs to do the right thing, urgently look into Margaret’s case and make sure she gets the care she needs to return home.”