What are the implications of the SNP's proposals for a National Care Service in Scotland?
The SNP’s National Care Service proposal would centralise Scottish social care by taking decision-making away from local authorities and care providers and putting it in the control of Scottish Ministers and a bloated billion-pound bureaucracy.
The proposals have been challenged by third sector organisations and politicians from every major political party in Scotland, which is why the Government has now paused this legislation at the first stage.
While the Scottish Government has stripped local authorities of funding, they plan to centralise social care at a cost of up to £1.3 billion to employ up to 700 civil servants and set up the service over the first five years. This is the last thing a system already in crisis needs right now.
How can social care become a fit for purpose sector with appropriate funding levels without a national body to represent and fight for it?
Social care in Scotland is not fit for purpose, and creating a National Care Service simply diverts money and decision-making away from the frontline.
The majority of UNISON members have expressed concerns about its implications.
At a time when social care staff are already stretched and many are considering leaving the social care sector altogether, it is counter intuitive to focus resources on creating a body which is unwanted by those working, or receiving care, within it.
For our social care to be fit for purpose, the Scottish Government needs to resolve issues relating to pay, terms and conditions for social care staff which have resulted in high rates of turnover.
Social care in Scotland is not fit for purpose, and creating a National Care Service simply diverts money and decision-making away from the frontline.
They must also improve training opportunities for care staff and managers and engage more with social care professionals.
How would a Scottish Conservative government go about improving pay and conditions for those working in the sector?
I recognise pay, conditions and career progression need to be improved within the sector if we are to retain care workers in the service.
To address the problem the Scottish Conservatives would divert funding from the SNP’s National Care Service directly to frontline care.
We would build minimum pay, terms and conditions into the commissioning and procurement of care, ensure that commissioned care services reward length of service and positive job performance with pay progression, empower the Scottish Social Services Council to provide accessible training and qualifications for carers and amend the Carers Act to provide unpaid carers with automatic rights to support breaks from caring.
Social care workers play a pivotal role in our society and steps need to be taken to resolve the crisis in our social care system now, not in over five years’ time after the introduction of a costly and bureaucratic National Care Service.
How would a Local Care Service underpinned by a 'Local Care Guarantee' better serve those in need of care in Scotland?
A ‘local care guarantee’ would mean that no individual would be forced to access care miles away from their community, family and support networks. This means keeping care within the community and giving social care service users agency to access care locally.
Many of the terrible experiences charted in Scotland’s social care system stem from a lack of personal agency and diversity of choice. The SNP Government, local authorities, health boards, integration boards and providers should place individual choice and control at the heart of everything they do in relation to social care. Often this means supporting people to live independently and in their own homes as far as possible.