In line with its manifesto promise and this year’s Programme for Government, the SNP Government has published legislation to establish a National Care Service for Scotland (NCS), to ensure the best possible outcomes for people accessing care and support across North Ayrshire and Scotland.
The National Care Service Bill will make Scottish Ministers accountable for adult social care in Scotland - a change strongly supported by those responding to the recent consultation on the plans.
The Bill provides the foundation for the NCS, and enables the fine detail of the new service to be co-designed with people who have direct experience of social care services. Plans have also been published to explain how that collaboration will work.
The aims of the Bill are to:
support people in their own homes or among family, friends and community wherever possible, with seamless transitions between services;
create a charter of rights and responsibilities for social care, with a robust complaints and redress process;
introduce rights to breaks for unpaid carers
introduce visiting rights for residents living in adult care homes, giving legal force to Anne’s Law
ensure fair employment practices and national pay bargaining for the social care workforce;
focus on prevention and early intervention before people’s needs escalate;
create a new National Social Work Agency to promote training and development, provide national leadership and set and monitor standards in social work.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousaf MSP said:
“People have told us they want a National Care Service, accountable to Scottish Ministers, with services designed and delivered locally. That’s exactly what we are going to deliver.
“The design of the NCS will have human rights embedded throughout, and the actual shape and detail of how the NCS works will be designed with those who have direct experience of accessing and providing social care.”
Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart MSP said:
“One of the key benefits of a National Care Service will be to ensure our social care and social work workforce are valued, and that unpaid carers get the recognition they deserve.
“When this Bill passes we will be able to have the new National Care Service established by the end of this parliament. In the interim we will continue to take steps to improve outcomes for people accessing care - working with key partners, including local government, and investing in the people who deliver community health and social care and support.”
Kenneth Gibson MSP added:
“This Bill will end the postcode lottery of care in Scotland. Through the NCS, everyone will have access to consistently high-quality care and support so they can live a full life.
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