More than 200 charities unite to appeal over Scotland's care service

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

There are warnings that vulnerable people will die, suicides will rise, families will be placed under intolerable burdens, and the health and social care sector will become unsustainable, causing the NHS to buckle.
In total, 240 third sector organisations have signed an open letter to First Minister John Swinney warning that 61% of charities providing health and social care support fear that they 'will no longer be a going concern within four years'.
The letter is published exclusively in The Herald on Sunday today. Between them, the signatories provide services for hundreds of thousands of Scottish people.
Signatories include Age Scotland, Alzheimer Scotland, Action For ME, Adoption UK Scotland, Alcohol Focus Scotland, Carers Trust, Cerebral Palsy Scotland, Chest Heart and Strike Scotland, Children First, Diabetes UK, Dyslexia Scotland, Homeless Network Scotland, the Mental Health Foundation, MS Society, Quarriers, Marie Curie, Turning Point Scotland, and Who Cares Scotland.
Charities are paid by the state, including local authorities, to provide care for elderly, sick and disabled people. Demand is now so high, and funds so tight due to cuts, that they can no longer make ends meet, they say.
The letter calls for 'immediate action to address the profound crisis threatening our sector', and says 'the wellbeing and rights of Scotland's people and the sustainability of the third sector and wider public services are at immediate risk'.
The charities warn that without them, the public sector cannot function. Claims by the Scottish Government that it wants to improve social care 'cannot succeed if we are not here to help you deliver', signatories say.
They add: 'Our organisations face increasing levels of demand which simply cannot be met within available public funds. Services and support are facing severe funding cuts. Many organisations are scaling back services significantly; others are looking at the possibility of closure. The sector, and the people it supports, have been pushed to breaking point.'
A recent poll of not-for-profit providers found that '67% said they were budgeting this year on the basis of reaching financial balance through reserves... Of these, 91% reported that they will no longer be a going concern within four years'.
The head of one charity said their organisation had a '65-70%' chance of closure within 'two years' unless the government intervenes.
The letter tells Swinney that '81% of charities and voluntary organisations face financial challenges that put essential services and support they deliver at risk... We are now at tipping point'.
'Unless action is taken, the health and social care sector will be pushed over the edge of sustainability. The impact of this will be felt in communities across Scotland, including by some of our most marginalised individuals and families.'
Unless the government invests, 'the consequences of inaction will be felt in every community. It will increase crisis interventions, deepen inequalities, build pressures on the wider public sector and leave lasting scars on our country'.