National Care Service

Following on from the ALLIANCE’s involvement in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, we have been heavily engaged with the proposals for a National Care Service (NCS). This includes working with partners in the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, the third sector, and people with lived experience. Throughout this, the ALLIANCE’s priority is that social care services put people at the centre, support human rights including the right to independent living, and value the workforce and unpaid carers.

Our work on the National Care Service includes:

• Responding to the Scottish Government consultation, calling for the NCS to be “an investment of citizenship” that embeds equality and human rights. In addition, we also called for the NCS to revamp commissioning and procurement processes, ensure that pay and conditions for social care workers are improved, and for the removal of non-residential care charges as a priority.
• Responding to the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s call for views on the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, emphasising the need for stronger commitments to human rights and co-production, acknowledgement of the role of the third and independent sectors and a clearer definition of concepts such as ethical commissioning.
• Two “Future of Social Care” series that collected opinions from across our members, before and after the initial consultation on the NCS, outlining what action is necessary to deliver that transformational change in social care.
• Hosting an event on the potential inclusion of children and young people’s services within the NCS, bringing together the Scottish Government and relevant experts; an event report is available here.
• Hosting a webinar on the role of human rights and co-production in the NCS design and development process, with presentations from the Scottish Government; a video from this event will be available soon.

We are keen to ensure our members are kept informed about the progress of the NCS, and that their voices are heard as part of that. If you would like to be added to the ALLIANCE’s NCS mailing list, please get in touch with Allan Faulds, Policy and Information Officer, at allan.faulds@alliance-scotland.org.uk. If you have any comments about the NCS more generally you would like to make us aware of, you can contact Rob Gowans, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the ALLIANCE, at rob.gowans@alliance-scotland.org.uk.

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