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Climate Change and Social Care Collective – Hot Report 2

On September 15th 2021, The Health and Social Care Academy (a programme of the ALLIANCE) and Scottish Care held the second event of ‘The Climate and Social Care Collective’ roundtable series. More information about the development and purpose of the roundtables can be found in the first report.  

The second roundtable was focused on innovation and solution, with emphasis on taking a cross-sectoral approach. The event also explored people-centred solutions and a role of the community in supporting sustainable change. 

Our first speaker was Kenneth Watt, Policy and Public Affairs Manager for the Red Cross, leading work across the devolved nations covering health and independent living, refugee and asylum and emergency response. Kenneth spoke about the ‘Feeling the Heat’ briefing which discussed the impact of heat waves and climate change in the UK. The report evidences the increasing risk of heatwaves, explores public perceptions, and sets out solutions. The impact of heatwaves will be especially significant in terms of excess deaths, on older and more vulnerable people. Further, the overall impact on health services will exacerbate underlying health inequities. There is a significant role for community organisers and volunteers to take action as this sector feed into early warnings and getting information out to communities. Government recognition of the human impact of heatwaves, with coordination across sectors and levels. People must have access to targeted information that appropriately meets their needs.  

The second speaker was Christine Owen, Senior Manager with the People Powered Results (PPR) team, a Nesta Specialist Enterprise. The PPR team works with organisations and public systems to release the power of people closest to issues to adapt and take action in an increasingly complex world. Christine discussed place-based approaches to change, how to create the conditions for such change and how we might start to think about challenges differently through adapting, maintaining, and sustaining ourselves. This was demonstrated through a practical action programme ongoing with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) to deliver transformation focused on Covid recovery with community-led action to build a fairer, greener and healthier future as part of this recovery. Christine echoed Watt, emphasising the importance of collaboration as an instrument to effect change.  

The third speaker in the roundtable event was Bev Knight, Head of National Operations, with Redeem Exchange – a circular economy initiative introduced to divert plastic waste from landfill by reusing plastic hand sanitiser and soap bottles through a collect, wash, refill and return service. Bev highlighted the impact that people can have on the climate with simple methods. Potential solutions to a more sustainable future align with green jobs and a circular economy approach and discussed how the changes from this initiative support other vulnerable groups as well as the care sector. 

After the Q and A session, participants were split into smaller breakout groups to cover questions around key questions:  

1) if there was a £25 million social care climate innovation fund, what types of sustainable solutions would you like to see it used for?  

2) Which key stakeholders need to work together to take climate action? This may involve local authorities, those delivering and receiving care, health and social care partnerships, care providers, the business sector, transport and procurement. 

 3) Do you have any good practice examples (including from other sectors) that you would like to share which you think would be applicable to the social care sector? 

The breakout sessions fostered thoughtful conversation on the challenges and shortcomings with placing social care as a top priority alongside and within climate issues. Some of the recurring points that came up were on the biggest carbon emitters in the sector. While there is little data to evaluate the social care sector’s carbon footprint in Scotland, we know that the big areas of concern are around transport and energy – specifically heating.  

One of the areas that participants pointed out would be most useful would be to centralise information; this would allow people to access or contribute to showcasing measures that can be taken and the effectiveness of this would be useful for providers to understand where they can make a difference. Speakers mentioned there is a collective effort needed to implement change and pooling resources in this space would be helpful. 

There was recognition that the social care sector does not sit in isolation. Participants suggested joining up approaches to better understanding the role of regulators and inspectors, commissioning of services, of hospitals and health boards, and potential costs (both from action to inaction). It is important to join up data to understand how different industries connect and play a role in the delivery of care and support (more specifically laundry, food, agriculture, retail, PPE). There is a carbon cost to the delivery of care and these processes and costs must be balanced with a rights-based agenda. Many of the concerns circle back to the long-standing issue of insufficient funding available in the sector and the undervaluing of social care. Changing mindsets to focus on sustainability in the commissioning and procurement processes would be beneficial to implementing long-term change. 

We are looking forward to our final roundtable event taking place on Wednesday 20th October from 10:00- 12:00 which will look at key principles and calls to action developed as part of the series. We look forward to welcoming our panelists for the session and invite anyone interested in the subject to attend! Sign up here.

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Climate Change and Social Care Collective – guest blog from Anne Marie Bergseng

This summer saw wild, hot and wet weather causing disruption and taking lives in communities across the globe. The heat wave in Canada and the USA, and the devastating floods in Germany and Belgium are some of the international examples. Closer to home flash flooding following unusual summer heat has hit communities in Scotland and across the UK. What does this changing climate mean for the social care sector?

Earlier this summer the UK Climate Change Committee released its Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk saying the UK is ‘struggling to keep pace with climate change impacts’. The summary for health and social care points to flooding, overheating, and water scarcity as the main concerns. There could also be increasing risks from high winds or storms, and changes in air quality.

These risks will impact the social care sector both as disruption to the services from transport and access issues, and through the service users’ changing medical needs. It is also important to remember that the impacts of climate change are not evenly felt. Those already disadvantaged or in poor health are disproportionately impacted.

This is recognised in Climate Ready Scotland: Second Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, which has an aim of ‘Scotland’s health and social care is ready and responding to changing demands as a result of the changing climate’. It also acknowledges that ‘impacts on these services will likely disproportionately affect those who are already more vulnerable’. The programme lists a number of actions underway to improve the sector’s resilience.[1]

At the same time every organisation and every one of us individually have a role in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.  Travel, waste and energy use are some of the practices where organisational and individual everyday practices can be part of taking us in the right direction, with a wealth of resources available to inspire and enable change to reduce the unhealthy and dangerous impacts of a warming world.

 

Anne Marte Bergseng

ClimateXChange

[1] Last year ClimateXChange published a report looking at how social care at home services had faired through three extreme weather events. The research found that extreme weather events result in a substantially increased workload for care workers and managers in the care at home sector.

About the author:

Anne Marte is the Knowledge Exchange Manager at ClimateXChange – Scotland’s centre of expertise connecting climate change research and policy. She manages research projects on behaviour change and adapting to the impacts of climate change and is a knowledge exchange expert with 20+ years’ experience from media, corporate and science communications, and facilitation. In addition to specific research projects she works across ClimateXChange’s portfolio to connect research and Scottish Government policy-making.

Twitter handle: @annemarteb

This blog was specially commissioned as part of the Health and Social Care Academy (a programme of the ALLIANCE) and Scottish Care’s ‘Climate Change and the Social Care Collective’ roundtable series. The roundtables are helping to foster dialogue and explore the crucial role that social care must play in the context of climate change – in addressing, adapting to and taking action to mitigate the impacts. The last roundtable session will be held on October 20th 2021, from 10:00 – 12:00. More information can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-change-and-the-social-care-collective-roundtable-series-tickets-162420268395

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Scottish buildings light up for homecare workers

On the evening of Wednesday 22 September 2021, significant buildings across Scotland will be lit up in yellow to acknowledge care at home staff. This initiative is in line with the ‘Celebrating Homecare’ event taking place on the same day.

‘Celebrating Homecare’ is an online event developed by the Homecare Association in conjunction with the Care Workers’ Charity. It’s all about celebrating the amazing difference homecare makes in people’s lives every day. It is also being supported by care associations across the UK and Ireland including Scottish Care, Care Forum Wales, Independent Health & Care Providers (Northern Ireland) and Home and Community Care Ireland.

The Partners for Integration team, along with Scottish Care, supported by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the Care Inspectorate will be marking ‘Celebrating Homecare’ by lighting up buildings in Scotland to give thanks to the homecare workforce. This initiative is also supported by the Health and Social Care Partnership for Edinburgh, West Lothian, Argyll and Bute, Aberdeen, South Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, and West Dunbartonshire.

The buildings will include:

  • St Andrews House, Edinburgh
  • Victoria Quay, Edinburgh
  • Civic Centre, West Lothian
  • Castle House, Dunoon
  • McCaigs Tower, Oban
  • Marischal College, Aberdeen
  • Hamilton Townhouse, Hamilton
  • Perth Bridge, Perth
  • St Paul’s Square, Perth
  • Council Offices in Dumbarton

The buildings will be lit up in the colour yellow, which was chosen to symbolise the flame of a candle. This relates to another initiative by Scottish Care – ‘Candle for Care’, whereby candles are lit every Tuesday at 7:00 pm to express gratitude to all those who provide care and support during the COVID-19 crisis and in memory of all those who have died from COVID-19.

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 which thousands of homecare staff enable people to achieve every day across the UK.

Throughout the pandemic, 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 the challenges of COVID-19. 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.

The homecare sector shows us caring, resilience and compassion at its best. Yet this workforce is often undervalued and not recognised. This workforce deserves recognition for their dedication and professionalism every day of the week, regardless of weather, risk or fear.

A relative of a service user said:

“During the Pandemic, it has been a lifeline for my mother to have carers support her at home. We live around 90 minutes away and supporting mum daily would be challenging, particularly as my husband is going through cancer treatment. On the occasions when we have met with carers, usually when delivering meals for mum, we’ve both been extremely impressed by their care and professionalism.

My mother very much enjoys the company of the carers and the support they provide. It gives her a focus and also a ‘raison d’etre.’ It’s encouraging to hear that they are supporting mum leaving her flat for short walks. Our thanks to all the carers.”

Jim Carle, Joint National Lead for Partners for Integration, Scottish Care, commented:

“This ‘light up’ is an acknowledgement of the care at home workforces’ uphill battle to continue to provide an incredible service in a year like no other, as they have faced and met the challenges of Covid-19.  In an extended period of unprecedented demand, they have gone above and beyond. To acknowledge the magnificent contribution they make to the vulnerable individuals they care for on a daily basis, which is truly worthy of celebration. Our heartfelt thanks for their dedication and care.” 

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Preferred Supplier Webinar – Citation: Tendering (30 September)

Free tendering for Scottish Care Member

Practical tips and guidance on improving success…

No matter the size of your business and your ambition, tendering offers exciting opportunities and is an important part of a care business’s ultimate success. But in a world of competition, are you doing everything you can to stand out from the crowd?

Join Gold Tier Preferred Supplier, Citation, for a free, 60-minute webinar on 30 September (2 – 3 PM)  which will cover the key HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety aspects needed to drive efficiency as well as practical tips and guidance on how to tender correctly.

Key talking points in the webinar will include:

  • An overview of the tendering process and when and where to find suitable tenders for your business
  • Tips on how to win more tenders such as the preferred certifications and accreditations
  • Ensuring your rating is as strong as possible for the best opportunities
  • Common mistakes and how to avoid them
  • HR and Health & Safety policies and procedures needed for tendering as well as planning and preparation to keep your business running smoothly while you focus on winning more business.

Date: 30 September

Webinar time: 2 – 3 PM

How to join: Joining link will be available on the Members Area of this website. If you come across any issues accessing this area, please contact [email protected].

They’ll also be answering your business-specific queries, so feel free to come along armed with any questions you may have.

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Knowledge leading to action: the urgency of dementia. A blog for World Alzheimer’s Day

September for some time now has been World Alzheimer’s Month and, on this Tuesday, 21st it will be World Alzheimer’s Day. This year, across the world individuals and organisations will be asked to reflect on the theme ‘Know dementia, know Alzheimer’s.’

It is an opportunity to consider the power and nature of knowledge. As part of this organisations and individuals are being encouraged to find out more, to get to ‘know’ more about the signs and symptoms of dementia so people can get the right diagnosis and support as quickly as possible.

Knowledge and dementia are an interesting association. Knowledge is both personal and emotional, intellectual and factual. It is also something which can inspire, create passion, and foster change.

As I sat down to write this blog, I could not help but think as I have for some years now at this time about my own mother who died from dementia some years ago. Before she was diagnosed, I thought I knew about dementia. In some senses I did, and I suspect I thought I probably knew more than others. As a young student on placement, I met many older patients in what was then termed a ‘psycho-geriatric’ ward including a man who had undertaken a career of neurological research but had himself developed dementia. So, I knew a lot about the technical aspects of the disease as I worked in different places and occupied different roles. But in reality my knowledge was a partial shadow of the truth.

Then my mum was diagnosed, and the lessons of love offered a different, hard, and painful knowledge. It was the knowledge of tear and fear shared by my family as we witnessed mum and granny decline inexorably in front of us. Having worked until her early 80s her decline seemed so rapid and yet so inexorably slow. This was a woman whose solution to all of life’s traumas and ills was the making of a cup of tea, a ‘strupak’. Then came that moment when she had forgotten the steps of her healing ritual and stood frightened in an empty moment without remembrance. She had forgotten how to make a cup of tea. The stripping of inner knowledge is one of the obscenities of this disease. Knowing changed, love remained, but relationships pained and fractured. There was a new world of knowledge, one which was not about the past or action, but one which was about discovering with faltering step and searching fingertips the landscape of a new world.

Knowledge and dementia are indeed strange sisters.

But there is another dimension to knowledge. There is not just the knowledge of fact and intellect, and even that of emotion and heart. There is also a knowledge that changes you and puts you on a new and different path, a knowledge where you cannot no longer be the person you were before it’s awareness, can no longer accept old familiar ways.

Knowing what I do about this disease both in my head and heart I cannot accept the casual discussions and debates, the easy political presumptions, media stereotyping and societal ageism that I have heard and witnessed for so long and which have been so manifest in the last few weeks.

The future of social care is centre stage in both Scotland and the other nations of these islands. The lazy debate which has been held has wholly failed to appreciate the nature of social care and the reality that it is more than a series of services and supports but a whole eco-system that enables people to fully live their lives as citizens regardless of condition, age or infirmity.

But perhaps where that public and political debate has fallen most short has been in its exploration of dementia.

The knowledge that needs to be shouted from every street this World Alzheimer’s Day is that dementia is a health condition first and foremost. So why? why? why? are we allowing its treatment to be seen solely through the prism of a social care solution? Paradoxically maybe those of us who have over the years resisted the pathologising of dementia and what happened when I was young which meant people were to be hospitalised, perhaps our emphasis on the need to see dementia as more than just a neurological disease, perhaps we bear some culpability. But the pendulum has swung far too far to the extent that dementia is in the eyes of many seen as a disease which can ‘solely’ be supported by social care interventions and supports. This is naive ignorance. It is a denial of the clinical reality that dementia is a disease first and foremost and one that requires significant clinical and health service intervention alongside social care support and re-enablement.

Where this simplistic dualism is seen most acutely is in how society resources and finances dementia care – or to be more accurate does not finance it.

It is wholly iniquitous that if diagnosed with dementia one has to sell one’s home to receive residential nursing home support. Now credit where it is due, the Scottish Government have committed to extending free personal and nursing care to better reflect the true cost of care and have recognised the gap between the true cost and the reality of underfunded rates in our care homes – though we await the realisation of the commitment. But that does not go far enough. How is it in any sense fair that someone who is in the advanced stages of dementia is not given the option of 24/7 nursing and social care in their own home? Why if someone chooses to or needs to live in congregated living like a care home is it assumed that their accommodation costs would be the same as at home? Come on this is the crude arithmetic of discrimination.

Henry Simmons the CEO of Alzheimer Scotland in a newspaper article this past week rightly argued the policy on enhancing free personal and nursing care still left people with advanced dementia facing huge costs because of the high level of health interventions and care that they need.  I was fully supportive of Alzheimer Scotland ‘Fair Dementia Care’ campaign when it was launched and remain so. As Simmons said to The Herald.

“In Scotland, we’re looking at five years to see the development of the new National Care Service, and three years for the rest of the UK before the full amount of new funding will find its way to social care.

“Notwithstanding the fact that people with dementia do not have time to wait for these improvements, there is also one fundamental and massive inequality that neither of these proposals go far enough to resolving – or even mentioning – and that is the fact that people with advanced dementia… are still going to have to pay substantial amounts for their care costs.

“Take a person living with advanced dementia. Their illness – a direct result of an untreatable brain disease – has progressed to the point where they may require assistance to walk, bathe, toilet and communicate.

“For this person, these are unequivocally health care needs.

“Why do we still feel that it is acceptable that we ask this person to pay for their care?

“We are talking about people who have worked their whole life, contributed through tax and National Insurance to help build the quality of life than many of us seek to enjoy.

“Why is dementia so different to other terminal conditions? It’s unequal, it’s unfair, and it needs to stop.”

 

People who have lived with dementia and those they love have known for years about the grotesque inequality of the funding of care and support, of clinical intervention and health support for the condition. It is a knowledge that should shame those who make political decisions and exercise fiscal oversight.

Knowledge must always lead to action, or it withers the heart. Knowledge of the inequity of support and care for those living with dementia should challenge us all to create a system which treats all with equality regardless of condition, age or illness. I yearn for the maturity and the dignity of such a day to come. I suspect – sorry mum – that such a day will not be brought about by cups of tea alone but my calling out the inequality at the heart of dementia care for what it truly is – an abuse of the human rights and dignity of tens of thousands of our fellow Scots.

Donald Macaskill

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Workforce Matters event – 6 October

‘Leadership in Social Care – Supporting you to recognise and develop your Leadership Role’

Scottish Care’s Workforce Matters is delighted to invite you to join us for our next workforce event being held on the 6th October 2021 between 10am and 2pm over MS Teams.

This event will focus on the importance of Social Care Leadership and is titled ‘Leadership in Social Care – Supporting you to recognise and develop your Leadership Role’ and will aim to highlight the vital qualities inherent in leadership skills, attributes and capabilities.  The event will also examine how these skills can be seen throughout the social care workforce and not only in management positions within the sector.

We will be joined on the day by colleagues from the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) who will be delivering sessions on ‘23 Things Leadership’and ‘Leading in a Crisis’ which we hope will be of significant interest.  We will also share with you plans to use our leadership resources and activities to support staff wellbeing following the work undertaken by the whole social care workforce in the response to the COVID pandemic.

This event will give an overview of SSSC leadership resources that are available for free for all social care organisations and how they can be best implemented to train and upskill the workforce to enhance their leadership skills.

A panel session will also take place which will give space for care providers to discuss their approaches to embedding leadership within their organisations in the sharing of good practice throughout the sector.

Further information for the event including the programme for the day will be available shortly, please contact [email protected] to express your interest in this event.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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Workforce Recruitment and Retention Survey – Interim Report

Today, Tuesday 14 October, 2021, the findings of the Workforce Recruitment and Retention Survey have been released as a summarised report.

Scottish Care issued a survey to gain an up-to-date picture of the top issues faced by the workforce with the objective of gaining data on recruitment and retention of staff at both the national scale as between care services; the level of sustainable delivery and financial viability of services for providers; feedback on what it working and what is not. We noted there is not just room for improvement, but a dire need for a change in commissioning and procurement, improved career pathways and better valuing of the distinct work that the social care workforce provide.

The findings from the survey show widespread difficulty across the independent, third and voluntary sectors, shared by members and non-members alike. The current workforce crisis is the worst in recent years, and the findings of the report highlight as much: recruitment and retention is increasingly problematic and cannot be sustained, not least attributable to high costs involved in trying to attract individuals to the sector, ineffective methods of advertising and no guarantee that those invited to attend interviews even show up.

The report also details findings related to contract types and hours worked as well as sickness and absence levels. Absence levels are significantly higher for the care sector than health, and the sector must continue to mitigate the impact that COVID is having on the health and wellbeing of the workforce.

Social care workforce issues are complex, and the issues have never been as serious as they are today. With recruitment and retention problems compounded by Covid and Brexit, many providers of care in care at home and nursing homes will struggle to keep going through the coming autumn and winter without urgent action to support the sector. There is evidently more work that needs to be done in partnership to ensure that clear pathways into social care recruitment are established.

The report does not detail immediate solutions but captures the data we believe necessary to initiate and seriously push for change in the sector so that delivery of care can be sustained, where there are better wages, terms and conditions, and a proper valuing of the workforce and sector in Scotland.

Read the report here
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Every Story’s Ending: a vision for a human right of palliative care.

I’ve mentioned before in this blog that the openings of books and stories always seem to remain with me. Whether it’s a simple ‘Once upon a time’, or ‘The clock struck thirteen’, ‘It was the best of times and worst of times’ or the more recent ‘Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.’ – the opening of a book can stay with you long after you have put the book down- but of course that very much depends on how good the book is in the first place.

What I struggle with is in all honesty remembering any final lines. There is of course, ‘They all lived happily ever after’ but despite attempts to talk up the endings most are forgotten – unless the ending is a poor one – that we do remember.

This past week I was pleased to attend the launch of ‘Every Story’s Ending’ which is in my view probably the singular most important work on palliative and end of life care to come out of Scotland in many years. The report comes from the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and is the output of hundreds of conversations, insights and reflections on the essence of palliative care and why it is so important for a society. It has about it the spirit of those conversations in its narrative, honesty and depth. It is a fairly long report but please read it because it will return the effort twelve-fold. The report has loads of practical recommendations which are rooted in sense and experience.

We put so much energy into planning birth and entry into life but so little in thinking or planning around our death and departure. But the way we end our story is as critically important as what comes before not only for ourselves but for those we leave behind.

In considering the report for me inevitably what it says about social care is especially important. That section starts with a wonderful quote from Annie Gunner Logan which describes well the distinctiveness of social care and why it has to be considered as central and intrinsic to all attempts to foster and improve wellbeing and health.

“What we [social care] do is get alongside people when they have very significant challenges in their lives and struggle to participate in society as full citizens, and we support them, wherever possible, to make their own decisions and move their life forward as best they can. Where the world makes it very difficult for people to do that because of their age, impairment or whatever, we do what we can to help by ensuring that they are comfortable, are cared for and can have at least some kind of independence and peace of mind in their individual circumstances.”

Annie Gunner Logan Director of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (Health and Support Committee Inquiry into Social Care)

That is a description which shows the potential of social care to enable the individual and wider community to achieve the fulness of life and purpose that they want and desire. Sadly, in the debates I have seen and heard in the media this past week as England and the UK Parliament has considered social care funding there has been a palpable lack of real understanding of what social care is and its potential. It has been very much about the NHS and looking at social care through an NHS clinical and acute sector lens. This has sadly missed the whole point. The debate has been about cost and deficit, need and limitation rather than potential, autonomy, control, and choice. Good social care allows an individual to achieve to their fullest potential and perhaps that is especially the case where social care supports the flourishing of the person at end of life and through effective palliative care and support.

The report highlights many of the challenges facing social care if it is to enable people who want to die at home or in a homely setting to achieve their wishes without unnecessary and unscheduled admission to hospital in the last months and year of life including the need to reform commissioning, increase financial investment and better train and support the workforce. The recommendations are self-evidentially implementable.

But this past week has also seen other work not least a commitment in the Programme for Government to the creation of a new Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy and also further work in the development of a new Human Rights Act for Scotland.

We are with all these changes and initiatives at a point of real potential and opportunity. For those of us who have worked in palliative and end of life care for many years there has been a desire to create systems and models, supports and structures, relationships and freedoms, which enable people to end their life in a way which upholds their choice and dignity, supports them and their families and friends, and ensures that we become the best nation in which to end one’s life such is the quality of palliative and end of life care support.

I have written elsewhere about how this can all be encapsulated if we have the dream and ambition within our social care and human rights legislation to declare clearly that citizens in Scotland should have a ‘human right to palliative and end of life and bereavement support.’ Scotland has the legislative, policy and practical opportunity to become the first nation to enshrine such a right within our society and community. It is an opportunity which should not be lost.

Death and dying is part of everyone’s story but the way we support and care for that ending is something which is unwritten. We face the challenge to make sure that everybody’s ending tells the story of a society that enshrines the rights of choice, dignity, respect and humanity. And if it does that will be a final sentence worthy of remembrance.

The End 

Not every man knows what he shall sing at the end,

Watching the pier as the ship sails away, or what it will seem like

When he’s held by the sea’s roar, motionless, there at the end,

Or what he shall hope for once it is clear that he’ll never go back.

 

When the time has passed to prune the rose or caress the cat,

When the sunset torching the lawn and the full moon icing it down

No longer appear, not every man knows what he’ll discover instead.

When the weight of the past leans against nothing, and the sky

 

Is no more than remembered light, and the stories of cirrus

And cumulus come to a close, and all the birds are suspended in flight,

Not every man knows what is waiting for him, or what he shall sing

When the ship he is on slips into darkness, there at the end.

 

“The End,” © 1990 by Mark Strand from The Continuous Life by Mark Strand.

 

Donald Macaskill

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Climate Change and Social Care Collective – Hot Report 1

On August 11th 2021, The Health and Social Care Academy (a programme of the ALLIANCE) and Scottish Care held the first of a series of roundtables – ‘The Climate and Social Care Collective.’ The roundtable was developed to highlight the role that the social care sector can play in the climate change debate. Social care has been largely absent from climate discussions, and we believe national attention must be urgently given to achieve a sustainable development strategy in social care in Scotland, which embeds sustainable environment concerns and supports inclusive climate action. There is clear need for the social care sector to be involved in the debate, given how the sector is both affected by and contributes to climate change.

The first session was focused on understanding what is currently happening in terms of the social and wider policy context. A group of panelists brought their expertise and knowledge to the forum with presentations, followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by Scottish Care National Director, Karen Hedge.

Christine McGregor, unit head with the Directorate for Mental Health and Social care at the Scottish Government, discussed the current priorities of Scottish Government and some of the targets in place to rebuild and recover greener, with focus on equality and wellbeing. There was recognition of the point of shift that we are seeing within the social care sector, and the importance of implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care which will feed into the creation of a National Care Service.

Anna Beswick, Programme Manager from Sniffer (a sustainability charity) covered climate resilience, adaptation, and the impact a changing climate has, not least on the more vulnerable people in society. Learning to live with the unavoidable impacts, what some of the barriers to action are and understanding how to empower people to take action are all key elements to embedding climate change action in policy and practice.

Lastly – though certainly not least – Katie Gallogly-Swan, Board Members from the Scottish Women’s Budget Group highlighted the parallels between social care and climate change which has resulted in them both being historically overlooked within policy, with points echoing Christine and Anna on how we have to mitigate, adapt, and support the communities most affected by climate change.

Following presentations, attendees were invited to breakout rooms for further discussions on what people, organisations and the sector can start to do to take action and engage with those who may not yet feel that climate issues are relevant to them. Indeed, there is some way to go – known challenges include social injustice, promoting buy-in to the sector at large, lack of information and awareness, staff capacity, sustainable transport and demonstrating the real work going on behind the scenes.

We are looking forward to the next panel session on Wednesday 15 September from 10:00 – 12:00 which will be largely innovation and solution focused. We look forward to welcoming our panelists for the session and invite anyone interested in the subject to attend!