Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said that the Scottish Government needs to give NHS staff the resources they urgently need to tackle patients’ “winter woes” as new figures reveal A&E performance has “plummeted” to its lowest level since the Beast from the East.

On “Blue Monday” Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton has called for non-departmental public bodies such as Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Enterprise to record staff absences due to mental ill health, as part of a new push to boost mental health in the workplace.

Responding to the publication of the Cross Party Group on Cancer‘s review of the Scottish Government’s five year plan, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Responding to the evidence given by the Children’s Commissioner to the Equality & Human Rights Committee this morning, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has pressed for the Scottish Government to back his amendments to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least meet the new international minimum of 14, and possibly go higher to 16.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said that the Scottish Government needs to give NHS staff a break after new figures reveal a “ridiculous” fivefold increase in the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for treatment in A&E.

Commenting on Richard Leonard’s car-crash Good Morning Scotland interview in which he refused to say what Labour’s Brexit policy would be in the event of an election, Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign chair Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today published “shocking” new statistics showing the true scale by which the First Minister’s own Treatment Time Guarantee is being missed, with patients waiting up to 896 days for treatment when the law says they should wait no longer than 84 days.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP and deputy convener of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee Alex Cole-Hamilton today called for the Scottish Government to mark the end of the Year of Young People by accepting amendments to the Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill which would prohibit locking up children in police cells.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has condemned ministers for the scale on which they have failed young people after he published new figures showing the Scottish Government has breached its own child mental health waiting time target by more than 1.7 million days since its introduction.

Alongside Almond Cllr Kevin Lang I met with ScotRail Managing Director Alex Hynes for crisis talks about the ongoing situation at Dalmeny station and South Gyle regarding the under provision of rolling stock and train cancellations. Mr Hynes confirmed that the problems on services from Fife to the capital are the worst in the country and as such are his number one priority.