Cole-Hamilton: SNP incapable of fixing our NHS 

Following a series of new statistics revealing failing performance on breast cancer care, more people stuck in hospital and long waits at A&E, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the SNP has completely run out of ideas for how to tackle the crisis in our NHS.

New figures from Public Health Scotland show that:

• Around half of the targets for breast cancer care were missed, including the optimal time to radiotherapy which was met for just 25.4% of patients, despite the target being 80%.  
• Nearly 2,000 people (1,986) were stuck in hospital at the end of February due to their discharge being delayed.
• The number of planned operations is still falling short of pre-pandemic levels, with 14.7% fewer operations planned between March 2024 and February 2025 compared to pre-pandemic.
• Only 68.2% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 23rd March, while 2,619 people waited over 8 hours and 1,069 waited over 12 hours.

On breast cancer care performance, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“With so many targets being missed, and some by a very wide margin, the government’s cancer strategy risks ringing hollow.

“Patients deserve swift and effective care. We know this can be a matter of life and death, with early intervention being crucial to chances of survival.

“Staff and patients are tired of being continually failed by a government that can’t match its words with action.”

On delayed discharges, he said:

“Too many people are stuck in hospital because they can’t get the care they need at home or in the community.

“The SNP don’t seem to understand that you can’t fix the crisis in our NHS if you don’t fix social care. They have already wasted four years and £30 million on a bureaucratic power grab of social care that was never going to fix core problems. Now that they have ditched it, we need to see a proper investment in staff and services that are so overstretched.”

On planned operations, he said:

“On the SNP’s watch, thousands are being left to wait in pain, not knowing when they will receive the operation they need and fearing it may never come.

“There’s been lots of warm words, but virtually no action to resolve backlogs. We urgently need to address that backlog and support staff, but it’s clear this government has run out of ideas.”

On A&E, he said:

“The SNP have somehow normalised a situation where more than a thousand people are waiting over half a day at A&E every week. In those nightmarish conditions, staff burnout is inevitable.

“We cannot cut A&E waits if we don’t fix the problems in social care and free up space in hospitals. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats would help people leave hospital on time and access care packages with a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.”