Tag: adult social care

New photo gallery showcases the ordinary moments that can make an extraordinary difference in adult social care

The Scottish Government’s ‘You Can Make The Difference’ campaign aims to support the recruitment of more adult social care workers to help address vacancies in the sector.

The campaign focuses on the difference someone working in adult social care can make to people’s lives, highlighting the rewarding relationships that develop between care workers and the people they support.

To shine a spotlight on the special moments those working in adult social care deliver every day and help to attract more people into the sector, the ‘Making The Difference’ online gallery uses photography to bring the stories of people working in and supported by the sector to life.

Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “The new online gallery shares the stories of people working in adult social care and the people they support, celebrating the rewarding relationships that make such a positive impact on people’s lives on a daily basis.

“To help address the issues care providers are facing in filling vacancies, we’re increasing pay again to £12 per hour from April 2024, and believe the National Care Service will help us and our partners to provide consistency in further improved pay and conditions, creating clearer career pathways and ensuring a career in social care is attractive and rewarding.

Anyone who thinks they might be a good fit for a job in adult social care should visit www.CareToCare.scot to find out more.”

Katie Kershaw, Occupational Therapist, Leuchie House who features in the gallery said: “I love that part of my job involves talking to lots of different people and helping them on their journey through life.

“Being able to make even the smallest positive impact on someone’s daily life is something I find extremely rewarding.

“It’s great that the Scottish Government is shining a light on these little moments that make such a difference and I’d urge anyone considering a role in adult social care to go for it. There’s not many roles out there with job satisfaction like it.”

Emma Muldoon, Content Creator @SimplyEmma, who features in the gallery, said: “This campaign is brilliant as it highlights the various roles in the adult social care sector and showcases the small moments that make such a difference.

“Due to my condition, Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, I have worked with a number of care professionals over the years and they have enabled me to live life to the fullest on my own terms and independently in my own home.

“If someone has a genuine passion for helping others and making a positive difference in people’s lives, a role in adult social care is for you.”

There is a variety of roles in the adult social care sector. To help you find the right one for you visit www.CareToCare.scot and view the ‘Making The Difference’ gallery.

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First steps towards a National Care Service for Scotland

‘Real life experts’ to help focus on what really matters to people receiving social care

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and Minister for Social Care Kevin Stewart have welcomed the first meeting of a Social Covenant Steering Group, set up to help guide the development of a National Care Service.

Establishing the group, made up of people with day-to-day experience of social care, was a key recommendation of Derek Feeley’s Independent Review of Adult Social Care and marks the fulfilment of one of the commitments for the first 100 days of this government.

Initial membership of the group, which met for the first time yesterday, includes unpaid carers, disability rights activists, a care home resident, a campaigner for the needs of relatives of those in care homes, a social care worker and others with significant experience of the way services are currently delivered.

The diverse group includes people from across Scotland with a spread of ages, and social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

The group is expected to help establish a common set of values and beliefs – a social covenant – which will underpin the National Care Service, including treating people with dignity, prioritising the common good and ensuring there is strong oversight of the new service. It will establish underlying and unifying principles to help guide decision-making.

Mr Stewart, who will chair the group’s meetings, said: “We know there were problems in the social care system before  COVID arrived and we had already started to think about ways of reforming it, but the pandemic has shone a spotlight on the system and really highlighted the importance of making changes.

“Many members of this group have already heavily influenced the recommendations in Derek Feeley’s report and I am keen to ensure that we continue to listen to their expert views and act on what they tell us. 

“A social covenant will enable us to develop a common set of values around social care; and see those systems as not merely a safety net, but a springboard to allow people to flourish.

“It is extremely important that we listen to people with lived experience – the real experts – to hear about the highs and lows of social care services. It is by doing this that we will really find out what’s good about the services people receive, more importantly, what needs to improve for those who use and deliver social care.”

“Only by listening to people with real-life experiences , and acting on what we hear, can we create a system that ensures that everyone in Scotland has the opportunity to live fulfilling and rewarding lives.”

Marion McArdle,  who has a  daughter with  complex needs said: “I feel privileged to be part of this group, since I’m fully expecting it to be a partnership between the government and the experts, people with real stories and real suggestions on how to change things for the better based on their lived experience of social care in Scotland.

“I’m optimistic that this can only be good thing and a great step forward in getting it right for Scotland’s citizens who are entitled to a social care system which at the very least meets their human rights.”

Scottish Government pledges more say for communities in health and social care services

The public will have a greater say in how major decisions around health and social care services are delivered in Scotland.

New guidance will ensure NHS Boards, Integration Joint Boards and local authorities uphold their legal duty to consult and engage with local communities about major planning decisions.

This will guarantee people with real experience of using local services will be able to shape decision making at a local and national level, from building or rebuilding hospitals, to transferring health and social care services into the community.

This ‘forward thinking’ approach will ensure lessons are learned from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by giving people with lived experience a say in the future of NHS Scotland and the reshaping of Adult Social Care. It will also help ensure services are effective, safe, value-for-money and meet individuals’ needs.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Community engagement and participation is vital as we look to reform health and social care services, ensuring they are fit to meet the needs of the public as we deal with the long term impact of the pandemic.

“This guidance will help ensure people have a greater say in decisions which affect the care they receive.

“Our collective response to the pandemic has shown the strength of our public services and how we can come together to address challenges. Since the start of the pandemic we have been delivering services differently and have engaged with communities to ensure they are involved in decisions that affect them. This guidance captures that learning and seeks to ensure we all benefit from it.  

“The Scottish Government will continue to listen to the views of people who use health and social care services and actively involve them in re-shaping how we deliver care as we re-mobilise beyond the pandemic.”

COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson Cllr Stuart Currie said: “Planning with people promotes real collaboration between NHS Boards, Integration Joint Boards and Local Authorities.

“It sets out the responsibilities each organisation has to community engagement when services are being planned, or changes to services are being planned, and it supports them to involve people meaningfully.

“Fundamentally, good engagement means that services are developed which are effective, safe and value-for-money. And there is no doubt that greater participation brings better outcomes for communities all round.

“So, we encourage people in communities across Scotland to read this guidance and find out what they should expect when it comes to engagement about care planning. Ultimately, it is their experience that will be the real measure of what impact it is making.”

Care services – planning with people: guidance – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Adult Social Care: Scottish Government supports Feeley Review recommendations

Collision course with COSLA over National Care Service?

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has accepted the findings of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, and the Scottish Government is already working to implement key recommendations.

Ms Freeman told Parliament yesterday that Derek Feeley’s Independent Review, commissioned five months ago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was an “important opportunity” to be bold in reshaping how social care is planned, funded and delivered.

Speaking in a debate on the review, Ms Freeman set out a number of immediate measures in response, including a new £20 million Community Living Change Fund to redesign services for people with complex needs including intellectual disabilities and autism, and for people who have enduring mental health problems.

This will address some of the issues raised by the 2018 Coming Home report, about the need to avoid out of area placements and delayed discharge for people with learning disabilities and complex needs.

She said she accepted the principle of introducing a National Care Service but would continue to talk to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) about how to address its concerns.

The Scottish Government is working to implement other measures recommended by Derek Feeley’s report. These include:

  • work with local partners to end charging for non-residential care
  • developing minimum standards for terms and conditions in the social care sector, to help organisations meet fair work principles by the end of May
  • work to ensure there is no delay in the annual Real Living Wage uplift for Adult Social Care workers

Ms Freeman said: “The independent review of social care gives us a clear roadmap for the future of care provision in Scotland and we believe in the recommendations in this report.

“There is immediate action that can be taken now to secure improvement. I am pleased to announce a new Community Living Change Fund of £20 million to deliver a redesign of services for people with complex needs including intellectual disabilities and autism, and those who have enduring mental health problems. We will work with local partners as quickly as practicable to end all charges for non-residential care.

“The report also recognises and highlights the critical and invaluable support that the social care workforce provide to people all over Scotland. We are looking to establish a new sector-level body to ensure an effective voice for the whole of the social care workforce to enable them to respond to local conditions and address matters of importance, and support an effective collective bargaining role in the sector.

“As a priority, we will work with our stakeholders to agree a national approach to implementing the real living wage for Adult Social Care workers – for 2021 and in future years.

“We want to move from a competitive market to collaboration and ethical approaches to commissioning and procurement to help embed fair work principles and improve the consistency of services.

“The National Care Home Contract should also embed changes which drive the Fair Work Agenda and I have asked that for the first time Union representatives should be party to the discussions on this contract.

“I understand the concern expressed by COSLA on the issue of accountability. Local government is a critical partner in taking forward the radical change the Review rightly calls for and I support. We need to work together to find the best way to secure the Review’s recommendations and the spirit of its intent.

“I believe, as the report sets out, that improving adult social care gives us an important opportunity – to improve people’s lives, to build our economy, and to invest in high-quality, fair work.

“This is just beginning of a process for improvement. It is now up to us to ensure a social care system that consistently delivers high quality services across Scotland – a system that is founded in fairness, equality, and human rights, and that puts lived experience at the heart of its redesign and delivery.”

Council Leaders have already rejected the idea of a Scottish Care Service.

Speaking following the launch of the Feeley report on 11 February, Councillor Stuart Currie, COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, said:  “There was real and unanimous opposition to the recommendations on governance and accountability which would see the removal of local democratic accountability and a degree of centralisation, which Leaders rightly felt would be detrimental to the local delivery of social care and its integration with other key community services.

“They (council leaders) also felt that given the level of funding set out in the Review, Local Government would be well placed to deliver the human-rights based approach outlined at pace, whilst ensuring local democratic accountability remains front and centre of social care.”

Council leaders will consider a detailed report on the proposals and the Scottish Government’s response at the end of this month.

COSLA: Unanimous ‘No’ to National Care Service

There is much in the Feeley Report on Adult Social Care that Local Government and Scotland’s Council Leaders have been calling for, COSLA said yesterday.

Leaders have long advocated that that the lived experience of those who rely on social care should be embedded within the system and that social care should move to a more person centred approach, recognising the value of not for profit provision, and carried out by a workforce that is valued.

However Leaders unanimously expressed ‘grave concern’ at the recommendations around the future governance and accountability arrangements contained within the Report.

Whilst they agreed with a lot of the content within the Feeley Report, Council Leaders together voiced their opposition to the recommendation which proposes the removal of local democratic accountability from Adult Social Care and the centralising of the service under a National Care Service with accountability falling to Ministers, a move that they described as being detrimental to the local delivery of social care and its integration with other key community services.  

They also felt that given the level of funding set out in the Review, Local Government would be well placed to continue to deliver this vital service.

Speaking following a special meeting of Council Leaders Councillor Stuart Currie, COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, said:  “Council Leaders noted the publication of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care and endorsed many of the principles set out in the report particularly in relation to  empowering people, valuing the workforce and embedding a human rights approach to social care.

“Leaders were also clear that the lived experience of those who rely on social care should be embedded within the system and that social care should move to a more person-centred approach.

“However, there was real and unanimous opposition to the recommendations on governance and accountability which would see the removal of local democratic accountability and a degree of centralisation, which Leaders rightly felt would be detrimental to the local delivery of social care and its integration with other key community services.

“They also felt that given the level of funding set out in the Review, Local Government would be well placed to deliver the human-rights based approach outlined at pace, whilst ensuring local democratic accountability remains front and centre of social care.”

A further detailed report on the proposals will be considered by Council Leaders at the end of February.

Researchers warn of impact of ‘lost decade’ in adult social care

Urgent reform of the funding of UK adult social care is needed to save a desperately overstretched system which has now reached breaking point, warn policy experts at the University of Birmingham.

The crisis is partly the result of a ‘lost decade’ in which policymakers systematically failed to act on alarms raised back in 2010, say the researchers in a hard-hitting report published in the Journal of Social Policy.

In what is described as “the first analysis of its kind to present policy makers with different scenarios for adult social care funding and reform, to view these in practice (by comparing them to nearly a decade of policy) and to set out the relationship between future economic growth and the provision of sustainable adult social care”, the team, led by Professor Jon Glasby in the School of Social Policy, asserts that without swift Government intervention, the adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.

The 2020 update was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council part of UK Research and Innovation,  as part of the research titled “Sustainable Care: connecting people and systems, 2017-21”, led by the University of Sheffield’s Professor Sue Yeandle.

The article draws on and updates a 2010 review of the reform and costs of adult social care – commissioned by Downing Street and the UK Department of Health – which concluded the system was widely recognised as “broken” and that, with no action, the costs of adult social care could double within two decades.

Moreover, this would be the case for current services and approaches (which had already been strongly criticised for failing to fully and appropriately meet need), leading to significantly higher costs with no improvement.

Jon Glasby, lead author of the report and Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham, said:  “Our research has explored the future reform and costs of adult social care, and the high cost of inaction. 

“In 2010, we were adamant that doing nothing was not an option.  Our 2020 update shows that, without swift Government intervention, the adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.  Even though this research was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, urgent action is likely to be even more pressing in the current context.”

Not only were these warnings not heeded – but the situation has since got worse. 

Adult social care has always been organised differently and funded less generously than health care, and has faced a combination of pressures caused by demographic change, increased costs, and rising need,  compounded by cuts to public expenditure.

Ambitious plans for a ‘National Care Service’ were not implemented, while the austerity agenda led to a decade of spending cuts, service pressures, and a growing sense of crisis.

Predictably, the result has been greater unmet/under-met need, more self-funding, lower quality care, a crisis among care providers, and much greater pressure on staff, families and partner agencies.

 Cuts have also fallen heaviest on older people, with services for working age people less affected.  Despite the legitimate needs of other groups, it is hard to interpret this other than as (at least in part) the product of ageist attitudes and assumptions about the role and needs of older people.

While the situation is urgent, the human misery caused by this ‘lost decade’ is not as visible as financial pressures on more prominent, popular and better understood services, such as hospitals or schools:

 “When social care for older people is cut to the bone, lives are blighted, distress and pressure increase, and the resilience of individuals and their families is ground down”, says the paper. “Yet this happens slowly – day by day, week by week, and month by month. It is not sudden, dramatic or hi-tech in the way a crisis in an A&E department may be, and tends to attract less media, political and popular attention…  With yet more urgency than in 2010 we warn: Doing nothing is NOT an option.”

The article is published by the Journal of Social Policy, and is entitled ‘A lost decade?  A renewed case for adult social care reform in England’, by Jon Glasby, Yanan Zhang, Matthew Bennett and Patrick Hall (all at the University of Birmingham.)