Scottish government plans for a National Care Service do not reflect the ‘ambition’ of the Feeley review, the membership body for third sector care providers has said.

The Coalition of Care & Support Providers (CCPS) in Scotland says ministers’ vision for social care does not go far enough to move the commissioning of social care away from a focus on price.

And the group says the proposals risk social care being ‘subsumed into a health delivery model’ in a ‘command and control’ system.

CCPS represents more than 80 of the largest third sector care providers in Scotland.

The organisation made the comments in response to a consultation that has closed this week.

The government said it wanted to go beyond the blueprint for a National Care Service (NCS) set out by an independent review headed by Derek Feeley.

CCPS, which was a strong backer of the Feeley review, says that, while the scope of an NCS has expanded, government plans effectively water down some of the review’s key planks.

It stated: ‘In our view the ambition set out by the Independent Review of Adult Social Care (IRASC) team is not wholly reflected in the proposals. In particular the fundamental importance of culture change within the social care system which underpinned the IRASC findings and recommendations is, from our perspective, missing.

‘As they are currently articulated, the changes proposed by the Scottish government appear to rely on two key drivers – more control from the centre and greater enforcement of standards.

‘However, the emphasis on structures and practices is not matched by an equally explicit focus on culture, relationships, and behaviours.’

As the representative body for third sector care organisations, CCPS has been a critic of commissioning practices by local authorities, amid concerns over a focus on ‘time and task’.

One care provider told the Feeley review ‘competitive tendering destroys the very relationships that are crucial to success in social care’.

Derek Feeley went on to recommend a shift from competitive to collaborative commissioning, with “alternatives to competitive tendering developed and implemented at pace across Scotland”.

CCPS says the government’s idea of ‘ethical commissioning’ will ‘make little difference unless there are major and fundamental changes made to current procurement approaches. Unless public authorities move away from price-based competitive tendering, there will be an ongoing detrimental impact on sustainability of providers, quality of support and choice for individuals.’

Proposals to continue charging care home residents accommodation fees while removing charges for non-residential care were criticised earlier by Scottish Care, which represents independent care providers.

The group said this would effectively penalise people with conditions such as dementia who required residential care.

Read more: Analysis: The NCS headaches facing ministers; NCS: Care home residents ‘penalised’ by charging plans; IJBs challenge plan for expanded NCS

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