Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
A National Care Service for Scotland - Consultation
Letter from Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care regarding new consultation ‘A National Care Service for Scotland’, 6 August 2021
Letter from Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care regarding new consultation ‘A National Care Service for Scotland’
Dear Gillian,
I am writing regarding a new Scottish Government consultation, ‘A National Care Service for Scotland’, which will be published on Monday 9 August 2021.
As a courtesy, I wished to give you advance notice of the publication of this consultation, which will be available from this web link from the publication date:
https://consult.gov.scot/health-and-social-care/a-national-care-service-for-scotland/The proposed changes to social care in this consultation represent one of the most significant pieces of public service reform to be considered in Scotland for decades.
The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, during the pandemic, because it was clear we needed to do things better in future. The Independent Review acknowledged that current structures have not fully delivered the improvements intended to be achieved by integration of health and social care, and recommended the creation of a National Care Service, with Scottish Ministers being accountable for adult social care support.
The implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, and particularly the establishment of a National Care Service, is an opportunity to address some of the challenges across social care highlighted before and during the pandemic.
I believe however that it is right for this consultation to look beyond simply the creation of a national service for adult social care. The ambition of this government is to go much further, and to create a comprehensive community health and social care service that supports people of all ages. We will place human rights at the centre of our decision making; shift our emphasis to prevention; empower people to engage positively with their own care; embed fair work and ethical commissioning; and strengthen our commitment to integrating social care with community healthcare.
The results of this consultation will help to shape and develop a bill which I intend to be introduced in the Scottish Parliament in summer 2022. Our ambition is that the National Care Service will be fully functioning by the end of this Parliamentary Session, which takes account of the time needed to set up the organisation.
I would be grateful if you could circulate this correspondence to the other members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, and ask that they raise awareness of the consultation amongst any interested organisations and individuals, encouraging them to respond via the web address above. I am very keen that as many people as possible have the opportunity to contribute to this important consultation.
The closing date for the consultation is Monday 18 October 2021.
I look forward to working with you and the committee in future on our proposed legislation. My officials working on this consultation are available to give further information if that is helpful, please contact Ingrid Roberts (Ingrid.Roberts@gov.scot) with any questions you may have.
Yours sincerely,