Alex ramps up campaign on local health care

With more and more local GP surgeries signalling destress with overwhelming demand and local people finding it harder and harder to access care, local Lib Dem MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton has stepped up his campaign to make this the primary focus of the Scottish Government. Alex put access to GPs and local NHS dentistry at the heart of the Lib Dems Scottish General Election campaign and repeated polling has shown it is the number one concern for people besides the cost of living emergency.

Alex said: “There was a time you could see your local GP at the first time of asking, but that seems like a distant memory these days, with people having to phone many times over just to make an appointment. The SNP government have neglected local health care needs for too long and I’m calling on them to take their fingers out of their ears on local health care. That starts with proper investment so that hard working staff have the pay they deserve and it becomes a profession of choice again. We need to ensure that surgeries have swift access and referral routs to other professionals that can help with things like mental health and physio, we need to ensure that screening programs, on things like cancer are moving efficiently again so we can catch problems early and we also need to make sure that we remove unnecessary barriers to fully qualified dentists practicing in Scotland.

“That focus on local health needs to walk hand in hand with fixing social care at the same time to relieve pressure on our hospitals where nearly 2000 people are stuck, well enough to go home but too frail to do so without a care package. The number one focus of any good should be the wellness of our citizens and the SNP have failed to deliver on that responsibility at every turn.”