1,951 people stuck in hospital 

Responding to new Public Health Scotland figures which showed 1,951 were stuck in hospital in September due to their discharge being delayed, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“Far too many people are stuck in hospital unnecessarily because there are no care packages available at home or in the community. In turn this is contributing to record-breaking waits in A&E and leading to dangerous ambulance delays.

“The SNP’s planned ministerial takeover will do nothing to fix the crisis in social care. Unions, council leaders and every opposition party in the Scottish Parliament are all against the bill- it should be scrapped immediately.  

“My party have opposed this billion-pound bureaucracy from day one because we know it will do nothing to ease pressures. We want to see that money spent on frontline services and staff struggling right now."