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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

New fears care staff can’t cope

This news post is almost 6 years old
 

Report outlines areas where urgent action is needed

Fears are mounting the care-at-home sector is heading towards a "precipice" if more cash and resources aren’t urgently injected.

Scottish Care, the organisation which represents independent providers of health and social care across Scotland, is demanding that the Scottish government sets up a new Care For The Carer fund to help prevent the resignation of "stressed" and "fatigued" staff.

It wants dedicated funding aimed at protecting the "mental health and well-being of front line social care staff" and is also calling for a pay commission to be set up to establish an "adequate rate of pay" for workers.

Scottish Care has outlined 12 main issues to be addressed in a report and warned of a "massive recruitment crisis" in the industry, with nine out of 10 independent social care providers struggling to recruit staff.

The report calls for an independent, cross-party commission to be established to determine how social care in Scotland will be funded in the future.

"Let us put equality at the heart of health and care and create a distinct fund to nourish and nurture the social care workforce, similar to those that exist for NHS staff,” the report states.

Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, said: "Scottish Care has been warning for the last year that the precarious nature of home care in the current climate is leading us closer to a precipice of home care collapse in Scotland.

"If meaningful action isn't taken urgently to ensure we still have a social care system able to care for our vulnerable older citizens, the consequences are enormous - for health and social care, for the economy, for jobs, and most importantly, for the tens of thousands of individuals and families who rely on support in their own homes.

"That is why we are launching 12 Minutes to Midnight - to make clear what the very real challenges are and to offer our thoughts on the changes that are necessary to creating sustainable home care into the future."