Independent social care review report published

The report makes 53 recommendations to improve adult social care in Scotland.

The ALLIANCE welcomes the report by the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, which was led by Derek Feeley with support from a panel of independent experts.

The Review took place from September 2020 to January 2021, with a broad remit from the Scottish Government to recommend improvements to adult social care in Scotland.

Over five months, the review panel met with more than 1,000 people, held 128 meetings and 13 engagement events, and received 228 written submissions. This produced a wealth of information to consider, including the ALLIANCE’s engagement report and our separate policy briefing, which was in part based on evidence from My Support My Choice – a national research project about people’s experiences of social care.

There is much to be commended in the Review report. Amongst its recommendations, the ALLIANCE welcomes the strong focus on:

• Equality and human rights at the heart of social care
• Prevention and early intervention
• Closing the implementation gap between policy and practice
• Greater empowerment for people accessing social care
• Unpaid carers rights and requirements
• Self-directed Support and the Independent Living Fund
• More independent advocacy and brokerage services, including peer services
• Commissioning for social good
• Fair Work
• Removal of charges charging for non-residential social care
• Increased spending on social care, as an investment in the Scottish economy

We are pleased that the Review echoes our call for social care to be reframed as an investment that enables rights and capabilities, rather than a burden. The Review recommends a new ‘social contract’ for social care, based on this suggested definition:

Everyone in Scotland will get the social care support they need to live their lives as they choose and to be active citizens. We will all work together to promote and ensure human rights, wellbeing, independent living and equity.

Amongst the Review’s 53 recommendations is a call for system redesign, including the creation of a National Care Service (NCS) and the introduction of ethical and collaborative commissioning. The NCS would be created by a new law, led by a Chief Executive, and report directly to the Scottish Government. It would oversee local commissioning and procurement, supported by reformed Integration Joint Boards. Services would be procured from local authorities and third and independent sector providers. The NCS would also be responsible for implementing a new approach to improvement, similar to the NHS Patient Safety Programme.

The Review estimates that the total cost of the recommendations it makes would amount to additional expenditure of £0.66bn per year, approximately 0.4% of Scottish GDP. Increased expenditure is essential, it argues, to achieve a new rights based system and will have a positive impact – amongst others – on women’s employment and the gender pay gap.

For more information about the Review, visit https://www.gov.scot/groups/independent-review-of-adult-social-care (this link will take you away from our website).

To read the Review report, visit the Scottish Government website (this link will take you away from our website)

Watch a short film sharing the views of people who access social care support.

Film with subtitles (this link will take you away from our website)

Film with BSL (this link will take you away from our website) 

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