ALLIANCE briefing ahead of COVID-19 Recovery Committee debate

The briefing outlines key issues and priorities for COVID-19 recovery.

The ALLIANCE has shared a briefing to inform the Scottish Parliament COVID-19 Recovery Committee debate, currently scheduled for 2 December 2021.

We must learn from the issues and challenges that have been illuminated in the health and social care sector during COVID-19 and use that learning to positively influence policy and practice moving forward.

The briefing outlines key issues and priorities for COVID-19 recovery:

• The direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 – and responses taken to it – have been felt significantly by disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers. It is essential that our recovery from COVID-19 addresses the inequalities that have been made worse by the pandemic, particularly for marginalised groups.
• The longer term survival of third sector health and social care organisations is at stake, and the crucial services and support they deliver remain just as vital as we continue through COVID-19 recovery into the post-pandemic period; sustainable, ongoing and protected funding and support should reflect that to ensure that essential services continue to reach people and keep staff in secure employment.
• The independent inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 must be conducted in a way that puts people at the centre and ensures everyone’s voices are heard. The inquiry should adopt a human rights based approach, prioritise lived experience and third sector input, and ensure engagement and the output from the inquiry is carried out using multiple formats, with accessibility and inclusivity considered at the outset. Equal access to engagement is critical and particular focus should be placed on hearing the voices of marginalised communities.
• Support for people living with Long Covid should be improved: it is imperative that we adopt a whole systems, person centred approach, which prioritises lived experience and the vital work of the third sector.
• The long term implications of COVID-19, and its impact on mental health and wellbeing, must be considered and addressed.
• There is concern that some of the positive changes we have seen to services and processes during the pandemic will be removed as we go back to “normal”. We must harness positive learning to practically support people going forward. Positive changes that occurred during the pandemic should be maintained, improved, and used to influence change in policy and practice.
• A fair and equal recovery from the COVID-19 crisis could be achieved by giving greater weight to progressive economic systems like the wellbeing economy, as well as human rights and gender budgeting, and the caring economy.
• The Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Strategy outlines its commitment to establishing a National Care Service. Scotland has needed a radically different approach to social care for some time, and the creation of a new National Care Service offers an opportunity to reform social care, prioritise people’s human rights and good personal outcomes. This must happen at pace.

You can read the full briefing via the link below.

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