Huge thanks to everyone who joined us on Thursday 13 October for the Partners for Integration event. This event focused on ‘future proofing ethical and collaborative commissioning and procurement by sharing areas of best practice.’
The recording and presentation slides are now available to view below.
We are delighted to announce the finalists in the 2022 Care Home Awards.
We received a record number of entries this year at an exceptionally high standard, making it even more difficult for our judges to shortlist! Huge thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to our finalists!
Winners will be announced at an evening Awards Ceremony, hosted by Pop Idol Winner Michelle McManus and Scottish Care CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill. This will take place on the evening of Friday 18 November at the Hilton Hotel, 1 William Street, Glasgow. If you are interested in booking an awards table, please contact [email protected].
#careawards22 #celebratecare
Hawkhill House Nursing Home in Aberdeen recently started a Breakfast Club with the aim to help residents promote their independence and choice, whilst bringing their interest to food.
Mel Shearer, Manager at Hawkhill House, said:
“We are so happy to be able to give this independence back to some of our residents. It not only promotes nutrition, but encourages social interaction.”
Judging by the photos, everyone enjoyed cooking and eating their tasty breakfast! Well done Hawkhill House!
The scent of food being cooked has caught the interest of another resident who is normally sleepy at breakfast time.
Resident sat on the table had 2nd serving which is not usual for her.
Resident cooking and not requiring a lot of instruction, came natural for her and started reminiscing about the many breakfasts she cooked for her and her husband.
Resident cooking, you can tell by her smiles how excited she was to be able to do this task.
The 2022 Care Home Conference and Exhibition will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on Friday 18 November 2022.
Scottish Care members can purchase tickets at an early bird rate of £60+VAT until close of play on Monday 17 October. For non-members, the early bird ticket is £105+VAT. So take advantage of the lower price, and book your place before then!
Please click here to view the programme details for the event and to book your ticket.
The Scottish Government have contracted the Care Inspectorate to look at the prescribing, use and review of psychoactive medication in care homes during the pandemic. This work will commence in a few months and will involve only a sample of care homes.
As your Transforming Workforce Lead, I am keen this work will inform future supports that are needed for people in the sector, including staff.
Dr David Marshall, Senior Improvement Adviser (Pharmacy) at the Care Inspectorate said “I am delighted that Dr Jane Douglas [Scottish Care Transforming Workforce Lead (Nursing)] has agreed to represent the sector at the report writings stage of this project”.
We are all aware of the impact on the sector caused by recent national investigations into operations during Covid-19. We also recognise the potential for stress with any such medication work. However, I am assured that the thrust of this work is about looking at the legitimate appropriate use of psychoactive medicines, and that the methodology used will keep operational impact to a minimum.
The beginning of Covid-19 presented particular challenges for all working in the care sector, including the necessary suspension of many of the normal services and supports that we receive and that we can offer. Understanding the relationship between the COVID-19 virus and the impact it had on care services and on those living with dementia, especially during the first wave, is crucial.
Following engagement with people living with dementia and their carers, the government produced their Dementia And Covid-19 – National Action Plan. More information on that can be found at the link below.
Please see below letter from Ian Turner, Scottish Government, regarding the Social Care Staff Support Fund.
This confirms that the Social Care Support Fund will be extended until 31 March 2023.
Letter from Ian Turner - SCSSF
A unique group of more than 45 organisations is urging people across Scotland – and particularly those with direct experience of any form of care or caring – to back a major campaign for a new “National Outcome” on care.
The “A Scotland that cares” campaign says those who experience and provide care, including paid care workers, unpaid carers, and parents, have been undervalued for too long, with many facing deep financial and personal pressures.
The organisations say the situation was significantly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and is now being made even worse by the cost-of-living crisis. Frontline and support organisations report that rising energy, food and fuel bills are heaping extra pressures on the already stretched budgets of carers, care workers and social care services.
While the campaign says action is needed to alleviate immediate financial pressures, it is specifically calling for the Scottish Government to create a new commitment – known as a “National Outcome” – to help tackle the long-standing undervaluation of care. It comes as the Scottish Government prepares to launch its first review of Scotland’s existing 11 National Outcomes – the goals which it says describe ‘the kind of Scotland it wants to create’ – for five years.
Sara Cowan, from the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, said: “Politicians have repeatedly praised those who provide care in Scotland, but they must now embed an ambitious and measurable National Outcome on care to help drive transformative policy and spending action – and ensure progress is properly tracked.
“Care is the backbone of our society, but it is badly under-valued and suffers from chronic under-investment. This is impacting all of us, but women face the deepest consequences because they provide most paid and unpaid care.
“Alongside immediate action to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, we must end the invisibility of care and carers within Scotland’s National Outcomes so that investment in care is placed at the very heart of policy and spending priorities.”
Created by Oxfam Scotland, Carers Scotland, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, Scottish Care and One Parent Families Scotland, the joint campaign is now backed by over 45 organisations – including Carnegie UK, IPPR Scotland, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland, the Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project, and Barnardo’s Scotland. They say the lack of a dedicated National Outcome on care ignores the foundational importance of care to the wellbeing of individuals, households, and Scotland as a whole and leaves all forms of care undervalued – whether it is on a paid or unpaid basis, for children or adults, or for people with or without additional support needs.
The people of Scotland – and particularly those with personal experience of any form of care – are now being asked to send a personalised letter to the First Minister and the other party leaders using a dedicated website – www.ascotlandthatcares.org/ – set up to make the process straightforward.
Fiona Collie, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers Scotland, said: “For too long, all forms of care have been undervalued in Scotland leaving too many people who provide care struggling without the financial and practical support they need. The pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have only made matters even worse.
“We urgently need to inject additional funds into our care services, but only by fully valuing and investing in those experiencing care, and all those providing it, can Scotland build resilience to current and future shocks. We’re urging the people of Scotland, but particularly those who live with the day-to-day realities of care, to join us in calling for Scotland’s politicians to set this new National Outcome, and then to work quickly to deliver it.”
The campaign recognises that a range of initiatives could improve how we value and invest in care and carers in Scotland – such as a new social security entitlement for unpaid carers, additional investment in a reformed system of social care, and steps to better support low-income parents via the upcoming increase in the Scottish Child Payment.
However, it says progress is too slow and too shallow and those who rely on, or provide care are paying the price, including challenges in accessing sufficient levels of care, as well as poor working conditions, insufficient social security entitlements, and a lack of adequate respite for those who provide care. Caring is also deeply linked with poverty.
Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “It’s clearer than ever that the wellbeing of our entire society depends on care but, right now, a failure to sufficiently value and invest in this care is a key barrier to ending poverty.
“The cost-of-living crisis is simply multiplying the pressures long faced by those who provide care and, while some initiatives underway in Scotland have the potential to create positive change, the invisibility of care within Scotland’s existing National Outcomes is unacceptable and must now end. The Scottish Government, with cross-party support, must use the upcoming review process to show they are fully committed to building a Scotland that cares.”
Academics at the University of the West of Scotland have developed a blueprint for a new National Outcome on care, and have identified seven ‘Beacon’ National Indicators which they say should be used to monitor progress, in addition to capturing people’s lived experience of care. They say the introduction of a dedicated National Outcome on care would make Scotland one the first countries in the world to make such an explicit commitment.
Alyson Vale, Business and Operations Director from Abbotsford Care in Fife, added: “People deserve the opportunity to receive high quality care in their local area. Scotland has a dedicated and passionate caring workforce, but we need investment from government so that we can deliver the changes needed, both now and for creating a more sustainable care system to cater for the future care needs of our nation.
“A dedicated National Outcome on care would show that our government is committed to valuing care and those who provide care as essential to our society.”
Social Care staff need support and recognition from key policy stakeholders
This last couple of weeks for me have been a time of reconnecting and I have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting care providers and filming some of the social care workforce in their daily life. These films are part of the Scottish Care social media campaign aimed at raising the profile of the sector and showing a wide audience all the critical and highly skilled work that happens every day in social care.
Being part of creating these films and seeing the excitement and happiness in the faces of both residents and care staff has been such a reminder of the amazing individuals who work in social care. Seeing the enjoyment they all experience in their relationships with each other brought home to me the importance of the work of social care and its place in our society.
Scottish Care are hoping that these films will be shared widely across social media and possibly even shown on television so that we can open up the social care conversation as far and wide as possible. This is so important given that as we speak work is forging ahead with the National Care Service and unfortunately there has still not been a full conversation on how these much-needed services will be properly funded in the future. This is to ensure that we are able to provide a high level of integrated social care and health services that people need and deserve to receive.
What we must ensure is that while the National Care Service is being developed, we do not lose more of the vital social care workforce that we require. The recent publication in August 2022 of the SSSC Workforce Data Report 2021 has evidenced that there are less social care workers registered in 2021 that in the previous year. This is the first time in many years that there has been a decrease in the overall headcount of the workforce. Further examination of this data shows that the majority of these workers are leaving from care home and care at home/housing support services.
When I spoke with a care worker last week, they told me “I love my job, I know it is hard work, but I just love it”. Unfortunately, staff are having to leave the social care sector as they are unable to continue paying their own bills and commitments as a result of low pay and poor terms and conditions. For care at home workers the cost of running a car for work is becoming unaffordable and in rural areas this is an even greater challenge.
Action must be taken now, today, to support these inspiring and dedicated staff members so that no further social care staff end up leaving a job they love because the barriers to remaining in social care are just too great.
Huge thanks to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf for showing his support for Homecare Day 2022!
In this message, the Cabinet Secretary pays tribute to everyone working in care at home and housing support, and highlights the valuable role of homecare in society and the social care system. He also outlines the plans that the Scottish Government have got in place to support the homecare sector.
You can get involved in Homecare Day by sharing your good-news stories, resources, projects, blogs, and content about the sector on Twitter using the hashtags #homecareday22 and #homecarevoices.
Find out more about Homecare Day and how you can take part on: https://scottishcare.org/homecare-day-2022-1-day-to-go/
To mark Homecare Day, notable buildings and landmarks across Scotland will be lit up in yellow to celebrate care at home workers and other social care staff on the evening of Thursday 22 September 2022.
Homecare Day is an online event organised by the representative body for independent social care providers in Scotland, Scottish Care. Taking place this year on Thursday 22 September, this event aims to raise awareness of the crucial role of care at home and housing support services in supporting older and vulnerable citizens across the UK.
To be able to stay in the place you call home and to remain around family, friends and community is a desire many of us have, maybe most especially when we are ill or requiring support and care. It is this independent living that thousands of homecare staff enable people to achieve every day across the UK.
Care at home staff has continued to support some of our most vulnerable people in their own homes, ensuring their health and safety whilst combatting various challenges. They provide support not only to individuals but their families too. Recent months have also seen unprecedented demand in home-based care organisations, despite this, the homecare workforce has rallied together and gone above and beyond their roles to deliver quality care.
Scottish Care, along with the Partners for Integration Team have been organising this ‘Light Up for Carers’ initiative. This campaign is supported by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the Care Inspectorate. It is also supported by the SEC and Health and Social Care Partnerships/Councils for Aberdeen City, Argyll & Bute, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, and West Lothian – with the light-up taking place in these areas. Together, they are calling for social care workers, providers, partners and individuals to join in the celebrations by visiting these buildings, taking pictures and sharing them on social media with the hashtags #shinealight and #homecareday22.
The buildings and landmarks taking part will include:
These structures will be lit up in the colour yellow, to symbolise the flame of a candle. This is in line with another campaign started by Scottish Care during the Covid-19 pandemic, where candles are lit every Tuesday at 7:00 pm to give thanks to all those who provide care and support during this time and in memory of all those we have lost to Covid-19.
The social care sector shows us caring, resilience and compassion at its best, yet this workforce is often undervalued. Their dedication, professionalism and commitment in delivering high-quality care every day of the week, is something that deserves to be recognised and celebrated widely. This is why campaigns like Homecare Day and Light Up for Carers are extremely important, they offer an opportunity to give recognition to the sector and their workforce.
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