SCOTTISH government plans for social care will do nothing to tackle its “prolonged crisis” and must be ditched, Unison declared today.
The union, which represents thousands of social care workers, urged the Scottish government to abandon its proposed legislation on the sector.
It called for a shift away from “the toxic combination of chronic underfunding over many years and the fragmented, market-led model of social care.”
The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill is currently being considered by Holyrood’s health, social care and sport committee.
Unison warned that the Bill would not deliver the improvements needed by people requiring care and the staff who deliver.
Scotland’s councils should take over the social care system and run it on a not-for-profit basis, the union argued.
Unison Scotland regional manager Simon Macfarlane said: “Unison is committed to a national care service, but not the version proposed.
“The Scottish government’s Bill fails to tackle the underlying causes of the prolonged crisis across the social services system.
“As it stands, those in need of care, their families and the workers in the sector are all set to be failed by this Bill.
“The Bill should be scrapped and the focus moved to delivering commitments such as funding fair work and sectoral bargaining.”
Earlier this month, GMB Scotland withdrew its support for the legislation which does not compel care employers to pay fair wages.
Unison Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said: “Instead of recognising the value of those front-line staff, these plans only add bureaucracy to a service that is already choking on it.
“The problems in social care are obvious and the solution is just as clear and would mean employers being compelled to fairly pay and properly protect care workers.
“We have heard plenty of warm words about our campaign for carers to earn £15 an hour, for example, but progress has been glacial.
“All the time and money spent on the national care service should have transformed how care is delivered, protecting workers and those they care for. It has, instead, achieved nothing.”
Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “We are committed to establishing a national care service board that delivers clear, consistent national care standards by the end of this parliamentary term.”
