Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
I recognise what the minister said about that investment, but I think that it is fair to say that that money was the restoration of previous cuts. Also, we have already heard about the various flavours of a national care service, so we are not sure what the future of the bill will be or how it will address the postcode lottery in the way that the minister suggested. We are in a wait-and-see situation right now. The reality is that, no matter how well intentioned the dementia strategy is, it cannot and will not succeed in achieving its aims until the Government gets serious about tackling the systemic issues in the NHS and social care.
That is why Scottish Labour has been calling on the Government to end the indignity for dementia patients who are stuck in hospital when they could be back living in their house or care home. That issue could be resolved if the Scottish Government took the necessary action to increase the availability of care packages. At present, provision is patchy and access to suitable packages depends on where someone lives. All members’ inboxes show examples of people who are in real need, so we need real action.
The SNP promised to scrap non-residential care charges in its manifesto, as recommended by the independent review on adult social care, and it is time that it took action and delivered on that commitment.
The Scottish Government must deliver for the social care workforce, because it is the backbone of ensuring that people get the care provision that they need. We have consistently called for an immediate pay rise to £12 per hour, rising to £15 per hour. If we are serious about rewarding the workforce and increasing staff retention, we have to make that move. Week after week, the minister has derided calls from those on the Labour benches for £12 per hour, rising to £15 per hour, for social care workers, claiming that it was unreasonable and unaffordable, yet this afternoon in the Daily Record, his colleague Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, stated her commitment to deliver as First Minister what she steadfastly opposed and refused to introduce as finance secretary: £15 per hour for social care workers. It is amazing what U-turns can be performed when there is an SNP membership to be won over. Given the Government’s track record on delivery, I will not be holding my breath.
The challenge for the Government is that it needs to close the gap between the rhetoric and what is delivered to ensure that people living with dementia and their families and carers have an improved quality of life. It is time for the Scottish Government to get serious about delivering for people with dementia, and that starts by fixing the omnicrisis in the NHS and social care.
I move amendment to motion S6M-08053.1, to insert at end
“; regrets that the current NHS workforce challenges are impacting on dementia care, with timely access to diagnosis and post-diagnostic support becoming a postcode lottery, and calls on the Scottish Government to publish a plan for ending the high level of delayed discharge among dementia patients, and to improve support for people with dementia by removing non-residential social care charges and increasing the availability of care packages, supported by efforts to grow the social care workforce by delivering an immediate increase in pay to at least £12 per hour, and a plan to increase pay to £15 per hour by the end of the current parliamentary session.”
16:28Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.