Dundee Liberal Democrats - www.dundeelibdems.scot

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the Scottish Government must offer new hope to long Covid sufferers as he set out proposals to remobilise volunteers and give people more options for treatment by expanding social prescribing.

Social prescribing involves helping patients to improve their health and wellbeing by connecting them to a range of community and non-clinical services at no cost to the patient.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called for an inquiry into avoidable emergency care deaths after new analysis of these life and death services was published for the first time.

The Scottish Ambulance Service have announced that they are to provide weekly updates on unscheduled care incidents.

Responding to Kate Forbes' comments on Good Morning Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

"It is depressingly obvious that the SNP cares more about pushing another independence referendum than your parent's operation, your partner's job, or your child's education.

"The Finance Secretary says the coming days will be dominated by independence. That's the story of the last fourteen years and the impact of that ministerial distraction can be seen in every corner of our public services.

Responding to the announcement that hundreds of coronavirus contact tracers are being kept on until at least September next year, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"When we were seeing more than 6,000 cases a day and contact tracers were reduced to sending close contacts a text message, I warned that the system was not robust enough and called for more staff. Hardworking staff in health boards and at the national contact centre were run off their feet because the Health Secretary refused to send in reinforcements for so long.

On Carers Rights Day 2021, North East Fife's MSP and MP are calling on the UK and Scottish governments to support carers through a significant uplift in the carers allowance they receive and to help unpaid carers by providing guaranteed respite.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have said that the Carers Allowance should be permanently increased across the UK by £1,000 per year and have called on the Scottish Government to double its Carers Allowance Supplement for 2022, while also extending its Covid uplift over the same period, in line with new powers available this winter.

Today is Carers Rights Day, and the Liberal Democrats are continuing to stand up for carers.

The Covid pandemic has shown that we are a nation of carers. But it's also shown how, for this Conservative Government carers are nothing more than an afterthought.

From Ministers' abject failure to protect people in care homes, to their refusal to raise Carer's Allowance when they put up Universal Credit, carers have been forgotten and ignored again and again.

Responding to new figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service showing that there have been more than 500 verbal or physical assaults on staff in the past 22 months, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton commented:

"Nobody should have to go to work with a reasonable expectation that they might be assaulted.

Responding to the First Minister's interview with the BBC this evening, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"The depressing thing about every Nicola Sturgeon interview is how obvious it is that she cares more about breaking up our family of nations than she does about your parent's operation, your partner's job or your child's education.