Hansard

I will come on to self-directed support, but it is part of the complex landscape that needs to be reformed, so that we can make changes and help to support the most vulnerable people who need care.

It is clear from the evidence that one of the best ways to make the necessary changes is by reforming integration joint boards, as the minister set out to the committee. The committee has heard repeatedly from people with lived experience that the current adult social care system must change so that we can drive up standards to a consistent level across our country.

One of the ways in which it is intended that the aims of the bill be met is through the creation of a national care service board. The NCS board will ensure that consistent, fair and human rights-based social care support and community health services are in place. It will be responsible for reviewing and overseeing the performance of local strategic plans. To support that, the Scottish Government proposes to transfer ministerial powers of intervention to the board, which will be able to invoke them as a last resort. That will give the board the levers that it will need to drive and support performance, and—if required—to act.

As a former clinical educator and a nurse, I am interested in how the NCS board will help to standardise how we approach social care and social work and care across Scotland. Just this week, my office spoke to a local organisation that provides care across Dumfries and Galloway about the NCS board and standardisation, and it welcomed the approach.

Stewartry Care, which is one of the largest providers of social care in Dumfries and Galloway, gave evidence to the committee when we visited Dumfries. The other day, it told my office that, although it provides mandatory moving and handling training for its staff, much of the training that it provides on top of that is not mandatory. Stewartry Care also trains staff on how to assess nutritional status, and staff are educated on how to spot the signs and symptoms of malnutrition among those within their care.

However, as was evident from my meeting with the Food Train last week, the provision of such education is not universal practice. Many care providers do not offer such education or training, despite the importance of nutrition and the commitments in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 that was passed by this Parliament.

That is just one example of an area of education that would benefit from standardisation across Scotland. I ask whether the minister agrees with me and whether she will consider making nutritional monitoring one of the national standards as the bill progresses. I am not necessarily suggesting that it should be done in primary legislation; I am simply saying that we should consider it as we seek to make progress on standards.

I also want to touch on the commitment to establishing a national social work agency, which COSLA has agreed with. For the people who work in the social work profession and their leaders, the establishment of a national social work agency is a vital piece in the jigsaw of reform. As has been noted by Social Work Scotland, the current national arrangements for social work are messy and inefficient, with the Scottish Government, employers, the Scottish Social Services Council, Social Work Scotland, improvement bodies and many others all separately “leading” on aspects of social work’s development.

If we are to effect the changes in social work systems and practice that were outlined in the independent review of social care and the Promise, which the profession itself has called for, we need to create an enabling context. The national social work agency has real potential to address those challenges.

Dumfries and Galloway Council pays its social workers lower wages than any other Scottish social work department. That is why some of our social workers are leaving to go and work south of the border or in other parts of southern Scotland. That issue could be addressed by progressing a national agency.

Another example is that of self-directed support, which Gillian Mackay’s intervention was about. Different local authorities take a variety of approaches to the administration of SDS. While some perform really well, others perform less well. Therefore, I ask the minister to confirm that it is the Scottish Government’s intention for the national social work agency to deal with such discrepancies, to support the social work profession and to get it right for those who engage with social work.

It is clear that the bill is needed to improve the social care and social work landscape in Scotland. I will support the bill at stage 1, and I urge other members to do so.