State of Scotland's social care is a national scandal that belies 'cradle to grave' boast
Some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people are now the victims of broken promises made repeatedly for years
It is a horrifying remark that sums up the pressure on care homes in Scotland today: “Three people need to die before one person gets the bed they require.”
The statement, by a care provider, was offered as evidence of the sector’s current crisis to MSPs by industry body Scottish Care. “Providers report that capacity is often unavailable not because staff do not wish to provide support, but because workforce shortages and commissioning restrictions mean that assessed need cannot immediately be translated into actual care... there is growing concern about the ability of people to access residential care when they need it,” it added.
Elderly people who have worked hard and paid their taxes are now, towards the end of their lives when they need help, being let down by a state which could once boast everyone would be looked after, if necessary, “from the cradle to the grave”.
Left to die in hospital unnecessarily
It is a national scandal that people are being treated in this way, the victims of broken promises made repeatedly over decades. If they had known this might be their fate, at least they would have had the chance to make other arrangements, like taking out private insurance.
And that scandal is made worse by the fact that inadequate care services are one of the main reasons why the NHS is in such a mess. Elderly patients are being left to die in hospital beds when they could be at home with their loved ones.
Obviously, while they are there, those beds cannot be used by other patients. This has created a queue that can extend to hospital gates – where ambulances sit parked with patients inside because there is nowhere for them to go – and beyond to the scenes of accidents across the country, where injured people lie waiting for an ambulance-turned-hospital-bed to become free.
The SNP’s plans for public sector reform must include efforts to find a solution to this crisis, while the private sector clearly also has an important role to play.
However, after the party’s abortive attempt to create a National Care Service, hope remains hard to find that life for some of our most vulnerable people will improve any time soon.
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