Today, Tuesday 13 July we are pleased to launch the ‘Time for Change: Conceptualising a National Care Framework‘ report, a follow-up to the release of ‘Coileanadh‘.

In June 2020, Scottish Care began the Collective Care Future programme, which involved a series of engagements with a diverse range of people with experience and expertise in the social care sector in Scotland. From these contributions, we launched ‘Coileanadh’ – a future landscape for social care that articulated eight concepts and 39 actions for change, underpinned by three priority areas of focus relating to the ways in which practice-based change can be achieved, implemented and sustained to achieve a positive vision for the future of social care. 

The findings from ‘Coileanadh’ were compared against the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care to explore the synergies and areas of opportunity that can help to overcome the implementation gap that currently exists in adult social care and articulate the key requirements in conceptualising ‘National Care Service,’ summarised in the ‘Time for Change’ report. In doing so, we aim to offer a more holistic perspective on what such a service might look like and the resulting implications for how work in this context could be taken forward.

The actions identified are both complementary and distinct to the recommendations of the Independent Review. The report aims to demonstrate the authentic value of the social care sector to wider society and the relational interdependence that social care has with health. A broader view of social care that considers and encompasses key concepts around positive ageing, a life course approach, and the language we use when talking about social care is critical in supporting mindset shifts and realistic perceptions. We propose that within these first 100 days of new parliament, the actions articulated in ‘Coilanadh’ are adopted as complementary to the recommendations of the Independent Review, and that our work is included as part of the consultation process that the Government will carry out. It is our hope that this work is the start of a national conversation on the future of adult social care in Scotland.

Today, Tuesday June 29, 2021, the Independent Sector Nursing Data Report 2021 has been published.

The report is aptly titled ‘A Look to the Future – Achieving the Nursing Vision.’ It provides an updated view of nursing in care homes and in the independent social care sector in Scotland with a look to the future of nursing in the sector. This report is a follow-on to the Independent Sector Nursing Data 2018 report.

We wanted to gain an updated view of issues in social care nursing and issued a survey to members on topics where we are aware of areas of longstanding difficulty, such as recruitment, turnover and retention. We also asked about nurse agency use, learning and development, and the areas where we as an organisation might help promote further development, such as nursing access programmes and prescribing courses. All questions considered the context of the pandemic as this has had a considerable effect over the past year and a half.

Social care nursing requires distinct expertise; nurses fulfil a complex and multi-faceted role where they enable people with care and support needs -many of whom have multiple co-morbidities and complex health issues- to live positively in homely settings. They support individual health conditions and understand the impact this has on their social and community life. We wanted to ensure the report focuses on the importance and perception of this area of nursing, with mention of where we can make improvements, not least through how social care nursing is valued and how to continue to support students and colleagues in years to come. It is time that our social care workforce is provided with parity of pay, terms and conditions, and are seen with equal value to NHS colleagues to have sustainable and inclusive growth.

We hope this report paints a clearer picture and provides greater insight into the significant workforce challenges facing nurses in the independent social care sector, where data has previously been limited, and therefore support a wider range of stakeholders to better understand the criticality of the issues. Further, it can lead to collaborative working around some practical solutions to address the challenges experienced by providers as well as to the continued learning and development of the nursing and care workforce. As an organisation, we will continue to challenge how people view, value and use language around social care to shift mindsets and demonstrate the real importance the sector provides to society.