The National Care Service (Wonderland) Bill
The Scottish Government is operating in Wonderland, still trying to “co-design” a National Care Service that no longer meaningfully exists.
Image Credit: Scottish Parliament
This week the Scottish Government issued the January Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP) newsletter. The LEEP was set up in the Autumn of 2022 with the stated intention of enabling the public to become involved in “co-designing” the National Care Service. The newsletter, which consists of just a few lines, doesn’t mention that on 23rd January the social care minister, Maree Todd, announced the Scottish Government was abandoning most of the NCS Bill nor what it intends to do with the four substantive clauses that remain.
Instead, reading the newsletter you would be forgiven for thinking its business as usual:
“As we start 2025, we want to thank you for all your support and involvement. Your contributions are important. You are helping to develop and create an accessible and successful National Care Service (NCS)...We want to tell you that we have started planning for more co-design events in 2025. These events will be a great chance for you to share your ideas and work with others. To help shape the future of the NCS.”
This is a government in Wonderland. How can four provisions (on information sharing, procurement, a “right” to respite and “Anne’s law (a “right” to visit relatives in care homes) along with a new National Advisory Board possibly constitute a National Care Service? They don’t. That is why all MSPs should support the proposed amendment from Alex Cole-Hamilton of the LibDems to rename the "National Care Service (Scotland) Bill" to the "Care and Carers (Scotland) Bill" to reflect the loss of the actual NCS from the legislation.
Presumably, the explanation for this fantasy is that the Scottish Government, having committed in their manifesto to deliver a National Care Service, believe there are still votes in claiming they have done so whatever the reality. That is likely to alienate even further all those who tried to work with the Scottish Government to design the National Care Service but had their views ignored. It also serves to hide the truth, that in Scotland we needs to go back to go back to first principles, as we outlined in Caring for All, and start the whole process again. With the Integrated Joint Boards considering swinging cuts to care services, the case for a real National Care Service is as strong as ever.
Despite the Scottish Government’s claims that it wishes to involve the LEEP in future co-design work, whatever that might be, it has made no attempt to ask LEEP members, or members of the so-called Expert Legislative Advisory Group that met last year, what they think about the remaining clauses in the bill let alone whether its name should be changed.
The deadline for amendments to the NCS Bill is now less than a week away, 19th February, and so far, apart from the Scottish Government’s proposals to delete sections 1-35 and Schedules 1-4 the only proposed amendment is from Alex Cole-Hamilton. The Scottish Government appears to be in denial that there are still serious issues with all the remaining clauses in the bill, including the reference to a Part I which no longer exists and the proposal to criminalise workers who fail to share information. Unless the Scottish Government proposes amendments to fix these flaws the legislative process could unravel all over again.