Questions rise over care service plans

A Perthshire care home boss has signalled alarm bells over the SNP’s proposed National Care Service and warns it may harm frontline care.

Nicola Sturgeon’s vision for overhauling services by 2026 has been criticised for lacking detail and dogged by questions over where funding will come from.

A new National Care Service will merge all social and personal care services into one body run by the Scottish Government if it is approved.

The new national body would then be split into regional boards across Scotland.

This organisation would then be answerable to health ministers in Holyrood instead of local councils.

But critics are not sure the model is viable.

Care bosses, council chiefs and trade unions have warned there is no guarantee a National Care Service will help a sector that is already struggling.

Robert Kilgour, who runs care homes across Scotland, fears the government is “ploughing ahead” despite concerns.

He said: “I’m not convinced it’s going to improve things on the frontline. Just introducing a national care service won’t necessarily improve care.

“We haven’t had the Covid inquiry to see what lessons could be learned, yet they’re ploughing ahead in a blinkered fashion.”

He added: “I fear it’s a political marketing exercise. It’s a further land grab for central control.”

Much of the scepticism over the new model circles back to a recurring theme: nobody knows how it will work or what will change.

In a major consultation, Dundee and Angus public bodies said they had been given no evidence a National Care Service would lead to improvements. Dundee’s Health and Social Care Partnership said they were not opposed to reform, but claimed the proposals “lacked sufficient detail” to give them confidence.

They said it was “unlikely” the new model would help make things better.

Angus Council agreed it was “not possible” to judge whether the plan was a good idea.

Launching a health body modelled after the NHS is a big ask at any time – but doing so in the current economic climate is an even tougher task.

SNP ministers have faced questions over whether they can justify huge funding commitments to the project when cuts are being made elsewhere.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney was forced to defend plans to spend more than £1 billion on the new care service while slashing mental health funding. Public spending body Audit Scotland warned costs could continue to rise. Many areas in Scotland outside the Central Belt have different needs when it comes to social care.

There are concerns a centralised body may not work for residents in Tayside.

Angus Health and Social Care Partnership said a national service may result in the “loss of some innovative change suited to specific geographical areas”.

North East Tory MSP Tess White said: “The SNP government’s one-size-fitsall approach will have stark consequences for how care is delivered across Tayside.

“Services outside the Central Belt inevitably suffer when ministers grab power from local providers.”

Launching a national care service has long been one of Ms Sturgeon’s flagship policies and her party has shown no signs of reversing course.

In a Holyrood committee, social care minister Kevin Stewart dismissed fears over a lack of detail.

He said: “There are stakeholders who are not content with all aspects of this – but what I would point out to the chamber is that this is about people.”

However, further pressure will continue to mount on the SNP in the months to come as details become clearer and it progresses through Holyrood.

WARNING: The proposed National Care Service is “a political marketing exercise”, says a Perthshire care home boss.