Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has today lodged a motion calling for the Scottish Parliament to be empowered to hold the Scottish Government in contempt, following the historic vote in Westminster this week and in light of the Education Secretary continuing with the policy of P1 national testing in breach of an instruction from the Scottish Parliament to halt it.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton has today said that new leadership at NHS Tayside must tackle deep-rooted failures as a new report from the Auditor General warned that “urgent action is needed” to address NHS Tayside's financial position.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today warned that the Scottish Government’s new drug and alcohol strategy risked “another decade of failure” and laid out the party’s 10-point plan to meet the ambition to treat drug misuse as a health rather than a criminal issue.

Responding to BMA Scotland’s concerns than NHS consultant vacancies are “substantially higher” than reported in official figures, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on the Health Minister to address “persistent vacancies” across the NHS, after new statistics revealed “serious gaps” in the NHS workforce.

Responding to the news that 522 operations were cancelled in October for capacity or non-clinical reasons, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said it was a “disgrace” that more children are waiting over a year for mental health treatment, after new statistics also showed more than 3 in 10 children waiting beyond the treatment target.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, who sits on the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, has lodged amendments to the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill to raise the age from 8 to 16, rather than the Scottish Government’s preference of 12.

Waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services are officially the worst they have ever been with some children waiting up to 2 years for first line treatment. Local Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has consistently argued for improvements, such as the introduction of talking therapists in every school, to which the First Minister has now committed.

Local Lib Dem MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton has defeated the SNP government in a shock victory in the Parliament’s consideration of the Planning Bill which will govern new housing developments going forward.