• CQC: entire NHS and care system needs fixing
• Cole-Hamilton: Fornethy women must be given the redress they deserve
• Scottish Liberal Democrats respond to fresh NHS buildings delay
• Stone ‘thrilled’ with Flow Country’s World Heritage Status

CQC: entire NHS and care system needs fixing

Responding to the Health Secretary saying that the Care Quality Commission “is not fit for purpose”, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

In recent weeks countless people have told us harrowing stories about not being able to get the care they or their loved ones need leaving them feeling anxious and abandoned.

The Conservative party kicked the can down the road on overhauling social care and sent NHS waiting lists spiralling. It is patients who have borne the brunt of this shocking neglect.

For too long, too many patients have had no levers to pull to stop things going wrong and when they do, complaints and regulatory systems are too complex and slow.

The findings of this report are staggering and the CQC and our entire NHS and care system needs fixing, with patient rights at its heart.

Cole-Hamilton: Fornethy women must be given the redress they deserve

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today reiterated his call for the survivors of alleged abuse at Fornethy House to be allowed access to the Scottish Government’s compensation scheme for those abused while in residential care.

It comes as the Holyrood Petitions Committee concluded that the women should be granted access to the scheme. The survivors were previously told they do not qualify for the scheme because their visit to the school was only short-term.

When he was Deputy First Minister, John Swinney said he thought that “it is possible for Fornethy survivors to be successful in applying under the scheme.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

The accounts of the alleged abuse the Fornethy survivors suffered as children are truly harrowing and utterly disgusting. The trauma they have been left with has impacted every aspect of their lives, and their relationships.

Anyone who has met these women and heard their accounts first-hand will be determined to see them granted the recognition and compensation they deserve.

When he was Deputy First Minister, John Swinney agreed that these women should fall under the remit of this scheme. I am glad that a Scottish Parliament committee has now come to the same conclusion.

It is now time for the Government to do the right thing and grant these women the redress they rightly deserve.

Scottish Liberal Democrats respond to fresh NHS buildings delay

Responding to the announcement that the SNP Government will extend the pause on NHS building projects until the Scottish Budget at the end of the year, further delaying the revised NHS infrastructure plan that was originally supposed to be unveiled in the spring, Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire Angus MacDonald commented:

People are waiting an age for treatment but the SNP have poured cold water on essential new NHS buildings all across Scotland.

As a result, long overdue projects are on hold including a replacement hospital in Fort William and the revamps of Caithness General and the maternity ward at Raigmore. We also desperately need urgent care services back open 24/7 at Portree Hospital. I’ll be contacting Kate Forbes to urge her to recognise the importance of finally getting these projects moving because they are critical to improving healthcare in the Highlands.

During the election the Scottish Liberal Democrats published a fully costed manifesto that would have delivered £1 billion extra a year to fix Scotland’s crumbling infrastructure. We need proper investment in local hospitals and NHS equipment to bring down waiting lists and end long journeys for treatment.

Stone ‘thrilled’ with Flow Country’s World Heritage Status

Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has expressed his joy at the news that the Flow Country – considered to be one of the largest areas of blanket bog in the world – has been awarded World Heritage Site status.

Blanket bogs are areas of peatland that are valuable as forms of carbon storage and sites of biodiversity.

After almost 40 years of campaigning, the award has been made by UNESCO, and signifies a recognition of the Flow Country’s natural and cultural value – as well as granting the land legal protection.

Commenting, Mr Stone said:

As the MP who represents the Flow Country, I’m more than thrilled by this news. Of course, many of us have long suspected that this unique habitat was probably of world importance – now we know that it most certainly is and has been recognised as such.

Of course, this historic announcement will stimulate great public interest, and I should imagine that tourists and locals alike will be interested to see such a special place.

The task for the future is to make sure that the visitor experience is of the highest quality – but at the same time, in no way undermines the long-term viability of such an extraordinarily delicate and important ecosystem.

The world’s flora and fauna are treasures of priceless value and they must be protected for countless generations to come.