• Starmer NHS speech: Government risks “putting hip replacements over heart attacks” as 12-hour A&E waits soar
• Just 38 upskirting cases a year being passed to Crown Office
• 4 in 10 Scots go without recent dentist check-up

Starmer NHS speech: Government risks “putting hip replacements over heart attacks” as 12-hour A&E waits soar

• Lib Dems warn that Government risks “putting hip replacements over heart attacks” by neglecting the crisis in emergency care and ‘bed blocking’ caused by the social care crisis.

• Figures reveal almost 200,000 12-hour “trolley waits” in A&E since Labour took office last July.

• Average of 1,330 patients a day are facing waits of 12 hours or more before being admitted to hospital from A&E.

• Lib Dems have urged the Government to complete social care review by end of year rather than 2028.

The Liberal Democrats have warned that the Government’s plan for NHS waiting lists due to be announced today [Monday 6 January] risks “putting hip replacements over heart attacks” unless it also tackles the crises in both emergency care and social care that are backing up A&E.

It comes as analysis by the party of NHS estimates has revealed there have been almost 200,000 12-hour “trolley waits” in A&E since the start of July, when the Labour government took office. That means that an average of 1,330 people a day had to wait more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from A&E between July and November.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has predicted that there will be at least 14,000 unnecessary deaths due to delays in A&E this winter.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

These figures are shocking. In his speech today the Prime Minister can’t ignore the fact that emergency care is in urgent need of support. Thousands of patients who are well enough to leave hospital can’t be discharged because social care is in crisis.

With thousands of people waiting longer than 12 hours in hospital corridors on his watch, the need for urgent social care reform is even more pressing. A three-year review just won’t cut it.

This winter we’re seeing the consequences of inaction for our NHS yet again. After years of disastrous neglect of our health and care services under the Conservatives, patients and NHS staff deserve better.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

It is a scandal that patients who need urgent care are being left waiting for hours in trolleys and hospital corridors.

We know that these long waits in A&E are not just distressing for patients but can have serious consequences for their health.

The Government risks putting hip replacements over heart attacks unless it brings forward a wider set of measures to improve emergency care, and delivers social care reform at speed, not years from now.

NHS waiting lists soared during years of failure under the Conservatives and must be brought down. But the Government can’t ignore emergency care, social care and other wider pressures that will leave our NHS buckling under the strain.

Just 38 upskirting cases a year being passed to Crown Office

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today called on the Scottish Government to resolve obstacles preventing upskirting cases from being taken forward as he revealed new figures showing that an average of just 38 cases per year are being passed to the Crown Office (COPFS).

His call comes after a Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request revealed that between July 2018 and July 2024, 226 cases have been reported to the COPFS, an average of 38 cases per year.

Independent expert analysis has suggested there are loopholes in the law, which at present only covers images obtained for motives of sexual gratification or causing distress.

Commenting on the figures, Mr McArthur said:

I would love to think that these limited number of offences represented the sum total of upskirting offences in our country. However, the reality is that victims already feel a sense of shame when reporting offenders to the police and worry that there will be no consequences.

We need the government to take these offences seriously. They compromise the safety and dignity of women and constitute a form of harassment that for too long has been ignored. We need to give victims confidence that their cases will be dealt with and instil in perpetrators a fear that will not get away with it.

Scottish Liberal Democrats will continue to press the government to review the law in this area to allow more cases to be reported to COPFS. This is the only way of giving victims confidence in the system that should be protecting them.

4 in 10 Scots go without recent dentist check-up

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today urged the SNP to finally end the crisis in NHS dentistry after his party revealed that almost 40% of those registered with a dentist haven’t managed to see one in the past two years.

Scottish ministers have previously noted that 95% of people are registered with a dentist. However, in response to a freedom of information request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Public Health Scotland has now confirmed:

• 177,318 children and 1.8 million adults registered had not seen a dentist in the last two years. This totalled 39.5% of all those registered.
• More than 80,000 children registered had not seen a dentist in the last five years.
• More than a quarter (28.8%) of adults registered had not seen a dentist in the last five years.
• 574,387 adults registered had not seen a dentist in the last decade.

In October, the National Dental Inspection Programme found that more than a quarter of all P1 children have tooth decay, with children from poorer backgrounds at much greater risk of having dental issues.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

These figures are proof positive that being registered with a dentist is no measure of accessibility.

An astonishing number of children and adults haven’t had recent dental check-ups or appointments. On the SNP’s watch, more than a quarter of P1 pupils are suffering from tooth decay and people are resorting to drastic measures like DIY dentistry, purchasing tools off Amazon to do the job themselves.

Scottish Liberal Democrats were instrumental in introducing free dental checks, but SNP ministers are unpicking all that good work.

Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out plans to end dental deserts and bring back local NHS dentists. We need to see ministers rewriting their failed NHS Recovery plan, prioritising workforce planning and boosting the number of dentists taking on NHS patients.