The decision of the Scottish government to scale back its plans for a National Care Service has been met with frustration from social care leaders.

Now, a week after the announcement on the future of the National Care Service Bill, healthandcare.scot looks at the reactions from some of the organisations closest to its development.

A missed “opportunity of a lifetime”

Age Scotland’s chief executive, Katherine Crawford, says the politics behind the decision amounts to a collective failure of Scotland’s older generation – both now and in the future.

Ms Crawford says the ‘watered down Bill’ will do little to improve the situation for older people, with thousands spending too long in hospital waiting for care packages.

She added that the government’s failure to fix social care means its attempts to reform the health service will now happen “with one hand tied behind its back”.

 

“We will continue to be at the mercy of local authorities”

Disabled people’s organisation Inclusion Scotland says the withdrawal of proposals to structurally reform social care means the availability of care and support critical to its members’ wellbeing will still rely on council’s budget-driven decisions.

The organisation also raised concerns over the huge amounts of time, energy and emotion invested by people with lived experience in the co-design of the Bill.

In a social media post, the organisation says it remains committed to ‘salvaging improvements to consistency and raising standards across social care delivery’.

 

An “uncertain future” for social care

Despite the Bill not meeting the organisation’s expectations for transformational change, Scotland’s third sector intermediary the ALLIANCE says it’s disappointed parts of the National

Care Service Bill have been dropped.

Chief officer of development, Sara Redmond, says that while the ALLIANCE welcomes that information-sharing, right to breaks for carers elements will be taken forward, the “major” areas removed leave uncertainty for what will be delivered:

“It is vital the development of plans ensure much needed reform to social care is delivered without further delay to meet what people deserve and stop treating social care like a political football.” 

The chief executive of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), Rachel Cackett, said she was frustrated that “so much well-intentioned work” on the Bill will now go to waste.

A member of a previous advisory group set up to support ministers to make amendments to the National Care Service proposals, Ms Cackett is now urging the government to listen to experts on the changes the sector needs:

“We need to see a change in culture whereby recommendations made by experts in the sector, in good faith, are acted upon and put into practice rather than overlooked.

“The reform agenda, including on the vital issue of sectoral bargaining, must keep moving, driven by the innovative thinking and solutions of social care providers.

“With the 2026 Scottish election in sight, all parties need to think hard about the solutions they can offer for social care.”

 

Invest now to tackle challenges

Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland Colin Poolman says he agrees with the Scottish government’s desire to improve the quality and consistency of social care, but that there

is an urgent need to tackle workforce shortages and access to services in a sustainable way.

He says: “We didn’t believe part 1 of the National Care Service Bill would successfully address these challenges, and so ministers must now work with stakeholders to develop solutions that will work.

“The delivery of fair work is vital for tackling the workforce crisis within social care. Improving pay, terms and conditions, as well as opportunities for career development, within social care is key.” 

The union and professional organisation for nurses has been calling for the withdrawal of the National Care Service Bill since January 2024.

 

“A more promising and positive direction”

Other organisations which previously withdrew their support for the Bill say the decision should not mark the end for reform in the sector.

Local authority organisation COSLA – which walked away from National Care Service discussions last September – welcomed the government’s new direction, saying that ministers have finally listened to “the many voices who raised concerns about aspects of the legislation”.

The COSLA spokesperson for health and care, Councillor Paul Kelly, added that provisions for care home visitation rights, breaks for carers and a single health and care record must now be taken forward and fully funded.

He says: “Whilst there have been diverging views on the best approach to the badly needed reform, we need to address the challenges we face.

“I believe there is a shared ambition across Scotland to truly realise a social care system which improves outcomes for people in our communities and enables them to live healthy, fulfilling lives.” 

When the National Care Service Bill was paused in November, Scottish Trades Union Congress

(STUC) said the news was a “victory for workers” and that the scrapping of the Bill would enable ‘the slate to be wiped clean’.

Now, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer says a failure to get to grips with the key issues in social care has led the government to “this mess”.

She says carers’ rights, Anne’s law and improving staff pay and conditions should be the key focuses moving forward, adding:

“With over £30m spent on developing a National Care Service that lacked vision, left service provision at the mercy of profiteers and not addressing low pay and poor conditions in the sector, it’s little wonder that workers lost faith in the government’s plans.

“Care sector workers won’t be celebrating this announcement and it’s yet another blow to their trust in Scottish government.”

Read more: National Care Service plans scrapped; A timeline of Scotland's National Care Service Bill

 

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.