Tag: National Care Service

Unite calls for protection guarantees in the National Care Service

Read all our posts on the National Care Service.

Unite Scotland press release

Following on from the independent evaluation of the Scottish Government’s consultation on the creation of a National Care Service by 2026, Unite the Union has today (Monday 14th February) issued a stark warning to the Scottish Government that there should be no dismantling of the NHS or Local Authorities when developing a National Care Service.

The evaluation identified that the consultation was rushed through, with vague and unclear questions. However, what was clear is that workers, organisational bodies, and service users have identified the level of care currently provided is not good enough.

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Low paid, overworked, undervalued—Audit Scotland’s findings on social care

Last week Audit Scotland published a social care briefing analysing the state of the sector and the challenges it faces. We encourage all staff in Health and Social Care to read this and provide a brief overview in the following article.

The findings confirm what Unite CEC Branch has long believed: that social care staff are low paid, overworked and undervalued, and that the current staffing crisis is not caused by external circumstances, but exposed by them. The cause of the crisis is historical poor treatment and undervaluing of social care workers.

The briefing raises further alarms about the marketisation of social care, which is particularly worrying as the SNP’s National Care Service (NCS)—or National Commissioning Service, as would be more accurate—is on the horizon. Proponents of the free market would argue that competition between companies increases standards and increases the range service users can choose from, yet the briefing reports with concern that

commissioning focuses on cost rather than quality. Competition between providers has been at the expense of collaboration and quality.

And later in the report

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Do your election candidates support Unite’s care manifesto?

Unite have created a great tool to help you contact the election candidates in your area to ask if they support Unite’s care manifesto. Using your postcode, the tool automatically finds your candidates and lets you email them all, with Unite’s email template, in one go.

Contact your candidates today.

 The manifesto’s five demands are:

  1. A properly funded and publicly owned National Care Service which involves participation from the trade unions and local government.
  2. A minimum of £15 an hour for all social care workers.
  3. A minimum floor of terms and conditions for all social care workers which includes two 30 mins paid rest breaks, access to enhanced sick pay and consistent provision of pensions.
  4. The establishment of collective bargaining in all areas of social care services including the third sector and private sector.
  5. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) registration fee to be fully funded by the Scottish Government.