Meeting of the Parliament 26 April 2017
I think that we all agree that the living wage is a good thing, but there are problems with its implementation. Providers are struggling to cover the increased costs and it does not yet seem to have had an impact on recruitment. There are still major issues with recruitment and retention.
We need to consider how best to improve, for example, free personal care provision—something on which my colleague Miles Briggs has campaigned tirelessly. We must also support Frank’s law, which would extend free personal care to dementia patients under the age of 65.
Age Scotland reported this week that every year more than 8,500 elderly people are missing out on free personal care, because of delays to assessments and care arrangements. Alison Johnstone mentioned that.
It is important to consider what underpins all those concerns. In a report last year, Audit Scotland described the current model of care as “unsustainable”. As a result of demographic change, the increasingly complex demands for care and support and policy commitments such as the living wage, it is estimated that the annual bill in Scotland will reach more than £3 billion and that spending will need to increase by 21 per cent by 2020 unless new models of care are brought in.
That is a monumental issue, and we need to have serious discussions now on how best to develop new models of care that are fit for the future. Furthermore, although the integration of health and social care is certainly a step in the right direction, we need to do our utmost to ensure that communication channels are adequate in the formally integrated system. Although a proper assessment has not yet taken place, professionals are telling us that there are issues and we need to take action.
I reiterate my support for the work of social care workers and unpaid carers, who support hundreds of thousands of people in need across Scotland. Health, dignity and the ability to control one’s support should always be at the heart of policy, and I am pleased that Scotland has made inroads in that regard. However, underlying issues remain in relation to unpaid carers and social work staff. The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, which comes into force next year, will further support unpaid carers, who are often underrecognised. Unpaid carers’ work is vital and alleviates a huge amount of pressure on social care services, but carers need to be supported. My colleagues Graham Simpson and Brian Whittle will talk about that in more detail.
I move amendment S5M-05312.1, to leave out from “, available more widely” to end and insert:
“; calls on the Scottish Government to take action on Frank’s Law; believes that quality social care is essential to many people’s health, dignity and control; considers that better conditions and career opportunities are essential to recruiting and retaining experienced staff, and, following Audit Scotland’s 2015 report, Health and social care integration, which concluded that ‘current approaches…will not be sustainable in the long term’, commits to developing new models of care to ensure that Scotland’s social care system is fit for the future.”
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