Do we need a National Care Service?

At the time of writing, the Scottish National Party was preparing to choose a new leader for Scotland following Nicola Sturgeon’s shock decision to stand down.

The implications for social care in Scotland could be profound as the SNP has stated its intention to launch a National Care Service by the end of the current Parliament.

The plans have come in from universal criticism from care home providers and opposition leaders for lacking detail and being undercosted. And each of the three candidates for the SNP leadership – Ash Regan, finance secretary Kate Forbes and health secretary Humza Yousaf, have said they will revisit the plans if elected, with a Bill for the legislation being delayed until June.

Meanwhile, in England, the Labour Party has put forward its own ideas for a National Care Service inspired by the NHS that would be publicly run and publicly funded and free at the point of need.

Here too reaction from the social care sector has been mixed at best. Writing in Caring Times in September, chief executive of Care England, Professor Martin Green, described Labour’s proposals as a “major mistake”.

While current proposals from the SNP and Labour lack detail and are far from perfect, the creation of a national body to represent social care would give the sector the single voice that it currently lacks as well as a new brand identity and clout to rival that of the NHS.

A single body would also provide the opportunity to establish a framework to ensure a national floor for funding and workers’ wages and help develop career pathways and training and continuing professional development for our much undervalued carers.

With it likely to be years before a National Care Service sees the light of day, the debate about its merits and flaws will rumble on and on.

Lee Peart Editor-in-chief Caring Times