Not a man to bear grudges, Alex Cole-Hamilton turns up today as part-time, unpaid, junior, assistant, temporary, health correspondent for the Herald (and anyone else).
This is, of course, just the latest in a series of stories made up by the Lib-Dems, Labour and Tories in an attempt to undermine the Scottish Government and to provide our shrinking mainstream media with free copy. Here are earlier examples reported here:
Lib Dems provide STV and Herald with cheap and shabby copy on NHS consultant costs
Today, it’s the turn of the Lib Dem health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton to tell us:
‘A GP post in Scotland has lain vacant for two years, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have found. Health boards told the party of GP positions which had been advertised eight times without success.’
This makes, he said, for a “crisis” in general practice in Scotland.
I appreciate that he hasn’t had the benefit of journalism training, so a complete lack of context was to be expected. I also appreciate, it would have made little difference such is his desire to gnaw, rattily at the reputation of the best NHS around.
Now, I’m not saying that one vacant post doesn’t matter but I suspect that after two years, the work is being covered by a system which has more GPs per capita than elsewhere and which seems to have higher morale too. See these for evidence, Alex:
Already the best staffed and least stressed in the UK, Scottish GPs to get better contracts
No time for rest Alex! The Scotsman, STV and BBC want something on this too, by noon today. Shift yourself, boy! What are we paying you for? We’re not paying you? It’s an arrangement with the editor? Oh, I get it. Hail Brittania!
Talking-up Scotland 
Alex Cole-Hamilton. What a slimy cretinous scumbag.
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I couldn’t possibly comment…..here
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I could . While Alex is lending his name to such articles I suspect it is daddy that is furiously banging away on the keyboard !
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Daddy is a supposed expert on education who has never taught in schools.
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I don’t know which GP post he’s talking about or what sort of proportion this is of the total figure of GPs in Scotland.
If it’s the vacancy on St Kilda or even on Rockall there might be good reason for the difficulty in filling it.
As you say, a bit of context or even content would be helpful to the readers’ understanding.
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OK, Mea Culpa. I’ve now managed to read the artcle and realise it’ not St Kilda after all.
I’m not all that repentant, though, since A C-H doesn’t indicate how he might relieve the supply shortage of GPs. I recall from the other day that the Scottish Government has allocated additional funding to the universities to increase the number of medical school places. The possibility of Brexit shutting off the source of doctors from abroad also is not helpful. Where is he on that?
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Yes, we need to know.
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