The Scottish government has now decided to abandon plans for major structural reform of social care and community health. This means that proposals to create a National Care Service by reforming existing IJBs and creating a new National Care Service Board will now no longer take place.

The National Care Service Bill has not had a straightforward journey through parliament and following concern expressed by opposition parties and stakeholders, including RCN Scotland, the Scottish Government has now decided to withdraw plans for structural reform. The remaining aspects of the Bill relate to non-controversial changes such as introducing rights to breaks for carers. RCN Scotland welcomes this decision and will work with Parliamentarians on the remaining provisions of the Bill.

The Scottish government now intends to set up a non-statutory Advisory Board, which will, amongst other things, provide guidance and drive improvement across Scotland. RCN Scotland is seeking clarification about the remit and role of this Board.

While major structural change is now paused, RCN Scotland remains of the view that social care in Scotland is unsustainable and needs significant investment. We were not convinced that the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill would have addressed the workforce challenges which we know exist in social care and community health services. Attention must now turn to addressing these challenges. For example, work to introduce collective pay bargaining for adult social care in Scotland must be implemented as soon as possible.

You can read a bit more about why RCN Scotland did not support the Bill as well as view RCN Scotland Director Colin Poolman speaking to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. More information about how we got here can be accessed below.

• 16 Nov 2023 - RCN Scotland calls for the Scottish government to act now on social care
• 27 Sep 2023 - RCN members meet Minister to discuss national care service proposals
• 07 Jul 2023 - Members working in social care and community health settings urged to participate in National Care Service forums
• 03 Apr 2023 - RCN expresses serious concerns about National Care Service Bill in letter to new minister
• 03 Mar 2023 - RCN Scotland comment on reports National Care Service Bill to be delayed
• 24 Feb 2023 - RCN Scotland calls for National Care Service Bill to be paused

 

The need for significant reform to the way in which adult social care is provided has been a topic of discussion for a number of years. The COVID-19 pandemic brought these issues into sharp focus. In May 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care announced an independent review to look at the long-term future of adult social care in Scotland, including consideration of the creation of a national care service – the Feeley review.

RCN Scotland provided written evidence to the Feeley review and, following this, hosted a series of consultation events last year to inform our response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the creation of a national care service. Members came together from across the RCN Scotland membership - including members working in acute services, social care, community services, scrutiny, and education.