The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says Scottish government legislation creating a National Care Service should be thrown out by the Scottish parliament because of a real risk that pushing ahead with the plans will deepen the crisis within the social care sector.

In a letter to the convener of the parliament's Health Social Care and Sport Committee, RCN Scotland’s director Colin Poolman says the nursing and midwifery trade union does not support the bill and believes it should not proceed beyond the first stage of the legislative process.

The committee’s convener, Claire Haughey MSP recently asked the Scottish government to tell committee members how long it would take to withdraw the bill and bring a new, updated version to the parliament.

However, the Minister for Social Care last week said the government has no intention of withdrawing the legislation and going back to the drawing board,

In the letter published today, Mr Poolman says, while RCN Scotland shares the Scottish government's desire to improve the quality and consistency of Scotland’s social care and community health services, "it is entirely unclear how the bill will achieve this objective or address the serious challenges within a sector that is in crisis”.

Mr Poolman states in his letter that time is running out for ministers to make a decision:

"Given that the deadline for Stage I remains the end of this month, we are very concerned that the Scottish government has not yet produced a detailed plan for reform. Indeed, the Scottish government's letter to the committee on 6 December fails to set out detailed information about how the NCS will function and how will improve the quality and consistency of services. We are now even less clear about the scope of the NCS and what types of service will be covered.

“What the letter does make clear is the extent to which the bill needs to be amended to take forward the Scottish government's current plans. Key provisions within the bill are no longer relevant and key parts of the current plan are not covered by the bill."

The Scottish government has said that it is abandoning plans to create a network of separate care boards across the country but has suggested that, rather than rewriting the bill, the changes can be brought in during the stage II line by line scrutiny of the legislation.

The letter to MSPs says the priority must be for urgent action to tackle the current serious issues around workforce shortages and access to services.

"We previously raised concerns that the bill is being taken forward without a clear understanding of how to fix the current problems facing the sector or enough planning to ensure the effective functioning of an NCS,” Mr Poolman states.

“In our view this remains a real risk and we are extremely concerned that pushing ahead with the current bill will deepen the crisis within the sector."

The timetable for the passage of the legislation currently expects the Scottish parliament to debate and vote on the general principles of the legislation by the end of this month.

Read more: Government says it will not withdraw NCS Bill; NCS Bill withdrawal details requested by Holyrood; Editorial: 2024 offers a fresh start for the NCS; Millions less needed to deliver NCS

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