Latest news with #CareReformBill
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Unpaid carers penalised by Scotland's underfunded care system
The number of unpaid carers has soared by 14% since the 2022 Census, where there were 627,715. But despite that, support for them and the person they support is decreasing, according to two leading charities. A report published for Carers Week found that 36% of all unpaid carers who were struggling to make ends meet reported 'bad' or 'very bad' mental health, while 28% reported worsening physical health. The issue skyrocketed amongst black and minority ethnic (BME) unpaid carers, with 60% reporting worsening physical health, and 40% mental health. Many of the concerns centred around finances, with 12% of all unpaid carers admitting to skipping meals, while 11% did not eat for a whole day to make ends meet. Becky Duff, director of the Carers Trust in Scotland, told The Herald that unpaid carers provide around £15.9 billion worth of care each year. She said: 'Unpaid carers are keeping our health and social care system working. Yet, they are consistently unsupported. Read more: 'We're seeing an increased reduction in the support services that unpaid carers use so actually while unpaid care is increasing, the support around them is decreasing.' She added: 'What we hear often from carers is this isolation that they often feel. Many carers, because of their caring role, will have to reduce or give up work. 'They will be less able to be involved in social activities and actually their identities become less and less. 'These are the people who are holding up our health and care system but they are effectively being penalised for it.' The Care Reform Bill, which passed in Holyrood on Tuesday, pledges social care reforms, including breaks for unpaid carers. It means councils will have a duty to decide if a carer is able to take sufficient breaks from their role, and provide support or respite if they are not. This could be 'transformational', Ms Duff said – but only if it is matched with significant funding. Read more: Richard Meade, director of Carers Scotland, told The Herald more than 150,000 carers in Scotland were already providing more than 50 hours per week of care. 'Unpaid carers are increasingly expected to fill the growing care gap that is developing in Scotland and often at the expense of their own health,' he said. However, he said the Scottish Government did not currently have the 'sufficient' services in place to meet the needs of carers and the cared for person to allow for breaks to happen. He added: 'Unpaid care in Scotland is in the midst of a public health crisis, with carers experiencing huge inequities when compared to those not in a caring role. 'Carers provide the equivalent of £15.9bn in health and social care every year in Scotland – almost the equivalent of a second NHS. Carers are entitled to a good quality of life alongside their caring role, and we must act now to ensure that they do before it is too late, as without them our NHS and social care system would collapse.' An estimated 28,000 under-18s are caring for a relative, the report also revealed. It is estimated that 37% of the Scottish adult population – 1.7 million people, have provided unpaid care at some point in their lives. The Care Reform Bill has been scaled back over the last year and was meant to provide a National Care Service – the centralisation of social care in Scotland. However, ministers dropped the plans due to widescale opposition. The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
MSPs vote in favour of scaled-back social care reforms
MSPs have unanimously passed legislation which will allow people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted Care Reform (Scotland) Bill will also introduce changes to social care procurement and a new right to breaks for unpaid legislation was backed by 116 votes to to introduce a national care service, which were initially part of the bill, were dropped in January after unions withdrew support and a number of health boards and care organisations expressed concerns. What changes to social care are planned? One of the big changes planned under the new law is a legal right to breaks for unpaid mean councils will have a duty to decide whether a carer is able to take sufficient breaks from their caring they are not, then the local authority will provide support to enable this, such as providing funding for short respite policy, given Scotland has around 700,000 unpaid carers, will cost between £196m and £315m by 2035/36, according to the Bill's financial it remains a fraction of the £13.9bn that unpaid care is currently saving Scotland every to the way information is shared in health and social care - to make it less likely that people will have to repeat their information - as well changes to procurement rules in the sector are also up the powers that watchdogs can take against failing care providers is also part of the most high-profile part of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill is Anne's Law, which allows people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted is named after Anne Duke, who died aged 63 in November 2021 after being cut off from her family while battling early-onset dementia during the Covid pandemic. Why was the National Care Service ditched? The original proposal for a National Care Service, inspired by the NHS, was to take social care provision and staff away from local authorities into a new national was then dropped in favour of creating a national care board to supervise service delivery and improve consistency - but this failed to win over a growing number of body Cosla and trade unions then withdrew their support for the project, while a number of health boards and care organisations also expressed plan, which was also subject to a series of delays, was eventually scrapped in January after £30m was spent on the Care Minister Maree Todd said at the time she was "still committed to the ambitions of the National Care Service" but added the SNP no longer had the support it needed in parliament to pass its original plans into law.
