One of the absolute pleasures of an election campaign is to get out on the road and find yourself in a corner of Scotland that’s different from your own.
In recent weeks I’ve travelled from Peebles to Thurso, knocking on doors and hearing first-hand about the issues that are troubling people.
There is no doubt that the state of the NHS is on many minds.
In Thurso, I campaigned with community councillor turned Lib Dem candidate, Ron Gunn, who has spent years campaigning to prevent women having to travel for hours to give birth in Inverness.
I was heartened to see how many people greeted him with fondness, but I was shocked at the tales I heard of what some women are being put through. As distances increase so do the risks, yet the Scottish Government refuses to act.
Central Belt ministers can’t know what people further north are going through
And that gets to the heart of the problem: far too often, crucial decisions about health care provision in communities across Scotland are being taken by distant SNP ministers in Edinburgh. I think that’s wrong.
Humza Yousaf can’t possibly know what the people of Caithness or Keith need. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats want to put more power over local health services into the hands of local communities.
We need sustainable, long-term budgets to allow health boards to invest in staff and facilities, letting people get the care they need closer to home.
Covid has shown how much we need and value health and care services and the people who work in them. However, they are under incredible pressure.
It’s time for a proper workforce plan that recognises the needs of rural and remote communities, and acts to ensure that the staff we require are available
Two years of the virus and 15 years of SNP mismanagement are each taking their toll. It’s time for a proper workforce plan that recognises the needs of rural and remote communities, and acts to ensure that the staff we require are available.
Every Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate elected this week will be a champion for local health services, pushing for more mental health practitioners in key local settings such as GP surgeries and alongside the police, and supporting sufferers of long Covid who have been overlooked by the Scottish Government.
We need more say for local communities
But it’s not just healthcare. For a party which seemingly exists solely to demand powers from Westminster, the SNP have a horrible habit of hoarding power in Edinburgh.
We’ve seen it with the police and fire service. More power for ministers, less say for local communities. And they are planning the same thing with social care.
Why on earth would anyone want to permanently hand control of social care to the same Scottish Government ministers who were responsible for sending untested and Covid-positive patients into care homes at the start of the pandemic?
My Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see a power surge to local authorities, giving them a proper say over everything from planning to broadband.
Instead of SNP councillors, who will be apologists for a central government that cuts budgets and strips away local control, let’s get back to basics.
Alex Cole-Hamilton is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and MSP for the Edinburgh Western constituency
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