Tag Archives: highlands and islands

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has used a visit to Wick to set out how his party can win four additional constituency seats in the Highlands and Islands from the SNP and to launch his party’s plans to tackle delayed discharge.

Mr Cole-Hamilton was in Wick to meet Margaret MacGill who is just home after being stuck in hospital for a year when she didn’t need or want to be there – a case he repeatedly raised at First Minister’s Questions.

Margaret was first admitted to Raigmore Hospital in November 2024 with a rare spinal condition, before moving to the Town and County Hospital in Wick in February 2025. Despite being assessed as fit to leave hospital, she was unable to do so because there were no carers able to drop in and help her. She finally returned home last month after her family arranged private care, having been told that otherwise she would have to remain in hospital for another year.

New figures published by Public Health Scotland show that at the February 2026 census, there were 1,939 people whose discharge from hospital was delayed. In February 2026, there were also 55,547 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is 2% more than the number of delayed days in February 2025 (54,487).

In their forthcoming manifesto, Scottish Liberal Democrats will set out plans to make careers in social care more attractive and value experienced staff to improve retention by:

• Creating new dedicated key worker housing for carers and other eligible workers, so the housing crisis doesn’t stop people taking up posts.
• Rewarding care workers through national bargaining on pay and conditions, fair work and a career ladder that boosts their skills and respects their experience at every step.
• Change to a 7-day discharge model so people aren’t kept in hospital just because it is a weekend.
• Using the NHS App to help people to arrange welfare power of attorney, so they don’t become trapped in hospital down the line.