Commitment to Care
The Scottish Government has recently spoken about its commitment to strengthening the provision of care services in Scotland and the support that is available for carers.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Health Secretary Alex Neil set out how the Government intends to identify what additional support may be needed for specialist intermediate care services, which help people to get out of hospital sooner and prevent unnecessary admissions.
In addition, Mr Neil announced a number of other measures designed to improve care standards, including:
- consultation on the regulations for joint working across health and social care,
- consultation on national care standards,
- review of the methods used to inspect care, with a focus on how well services are respecting the rights of patients,
- joint work with COSLA and health boards to transform residential care and supported housing,
- examining services for people under 65 with complex care needs to ensure they receive the support they need, and
- encouraging the sector to guarantee social care workers the living wage, including consideration of statutory guidance for remuneration.
“Caring for a loved one, or making decisions about the care they need, can be extremely difficult and worrying. I believe these carers’ dedication must be recognised,” commented Mr Neil.
“We also want more transparent and fairer access to care services. We are already working well with health boards and COSLA on taking forward transformation of residential care and will ask them to look at services provided to people under 65,” he added.
“All of these changes are about securing the lasting improvements we all want to see across our care sector,” Mr Neil concluded.
Contact our Solicitors
For our high quality legal services call our solicitors on 01357 520082 or click here to make an online enquiry.