Journalist and campaigner Michael McEwan reports for healthandcare.scot on what Scottish government plans to establish a national care service could mean for people who use and work in care services.
The First Minister announced in 2020 that there would be an independent review of adult social care in Scotland.
The review was carried out by Derek Feeley, former Scottish Government Director General for Health and Social Care and a past Chief Executive of NHS Scotland.
Mr Feeley was supported by an advisory panel of Scottish and international experts. The aim of the review was to recommend improvements to adult social care in Scotland, to listen to people who use the services - carers, families, and people who work in adult social care.
We need to reform how we deliver social care. At the moment it's not working as designed. Everyone should have access to the same high quality community health and social care, regardless of age or location in Scotland.
People might need support for many different reasons, this could be physical disability, mental health, addiction or because they are experiencing homelessness.
The new national care service will provide support through social work and care, with additional support for carers, by planning commission of primary care and community health services.
By doing this, many across Scotland will have access to consistent service and standard of care, with flexibility to meet needs at local level, such as those of the island communities.
It will also support and value the workforce and provide opportunities for training and development. Most importantly the national service will have equality, dignity and human rights at the heart.
The Scottish government are committed to establishing a functioning national care service by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026. Surely this is a good thing for Scotland, that government are prepared to listen to the voices of real experts.
People with lived experience of care services are an important resource, because there is no point in designing a program without engagement with those who need this nationally.
Just by listening to different people and unpaid carers, it is clear the current system is not working anywhere close to its full potential. It can be a postcode lottery in different parts of Scotland, and people and unpaid carers are saying the new service can only be a positive thing.
If covid has taught us anything, it is that UK wide systems are not working the way they should be. Having our own national care service should work to resolve this.
Development and consultations will take time, but with the right methods and monitoring we will get there, to a better service for all adult health services across Scotland.
Michael McEwan is a freelance journalist.
Read more from Michael: Challenging learning disability stigma; Support carers through cost of living crisis; Value and respect carers;
