Scottish Care submission to Health and Sport Committee on Care Home Sustainability

Scottish Care, along with a number of other organisations, was asked by the Health and Sport Committee of the Scottish Parliament to supply brief written evidence for their work on the Care Home Sustainability.

The Scottish Care evidence is contained below.

The Committee will be receiving oral evidence on the morning of 12th December 2017.

You might also find it useful to read other evidence which can be accessed at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/106687.aspx

 

Scottish_Care Evidence

Partnership to promote AHP student placements

Promoting the value and importance of Allied Heath Professionals (AHPs) student practice education within the social care sector.

Scottish Care are delighted to be working in partnership with the Care Inspectorate, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and other organisations to highlight the success of AHP student placements in care homes and care at home organisations throughout Scotland.  Throughout November we will be showcasing successful placements as well as engaging with providers and stakeholders to identify how we can promote greater cross-sectoral working.  The link below provides more information about this important initiative.   You can also find out more on Twitter #AHPCare

http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/ahppe/national-programme/student-placements-preregistration/ahp-placement-experiences-(1)/care-and-care-at-home.aspx

 

For more information please contact Katharine Ross – [email protected]

New report on Mental Health launched at Scottish Care Conference

Scottish Care launched a new report on Mental Health at the annual Care Home Conference & Exhibition in Glasgow in November 2017.

The report, entitled ‘Fragile Foundations: Exploring the Mental Health of the Social Care Workforce and the People They Support’, was launched by Dr Donald Macaskill, Scottish Care CEO, in front of 450 delegates from across the health and social care sector.

The report is based on research with nearly 50 front line care staff from care home, care at home and housing support services.

Mental Health Report November 2017

You can also watch a short animation, created by Third Sector Lab, to accompany the report.

Media statement: Scottish Care announces appointment of a new Honorary President

Media Statement:

Scottish Care announces appointment of a new Honorary President

Over the last number of years Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood, has served as Honorary President of Scottish Care and has brought to the role his unique blend of intellectual rigour and personal compassion.  Lord Sutherland has decided to stand down from his commitment and all the Executive and members of Scottish Care would wish to extend both their appreciation and best wishes to Lord Sutherland at this time.

Scottish Care’s Executive Committee is delighted to announce that Professor Alan Baird has been appointed as the new Honorary President of Scottish Care.

Speaking about the appointment, Dr Donald Macaskill, Scottish Care Chief Executive said:

“I am absolutely delighted to welcome Prof Baird as our new Honorary President.  Alan has served until recently as the Scottish Government’s Chief Social Work Adviser.  In that role he has done a huge amount to build relationships between the statutory, voluntary and independent social care sectors across Scotland.  We are confident that he will bring the intellectual insight, creativity and empathy that he has shown throughout his career to his new role and we very much look forward to working with him.”

The announcement of Professor Baird’s appointment was made this morning (Friday 17 November) at Scottish Care’s annual Care Home Conference in Glasgow, at which over 450 delegates from across the health and social care sector are in attendance.

Biography of Professor Baird:

Alan qualified as a social worker in 1980 and subsequently held a number of practitioner and management posts in Glasgow, Angus and Dundee. He was appointed Director of Social Work with Dundee City Council in 2001 and served as President of the Association of Directors of Social Work in 2008/9. Alan was appointed Chief Social Work Adviser to Scottish Government in 2013 and remained in post until April of this year.

Alan graduated with an MBA from Dundee University in 1999. He has been a Trustee of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) since 2013 and has recently been appointed Honorary Professor in Social Work at Dundee University.

Alan is married to Rosaline and they have one daughter Lauren who is a primary school teacher.

 

Media statement: Care homes warn of fragility of sector, including mental health of workforce

National Care Home Conference

Hilton Hotel Glasgow

Friday 17 November 2017

Pushing the boundaries: care home reform and reality”

CARE HOME SECTOR WARNS OF FRAGILITY OF SECTOR, INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH OF WORKFORCE

Care home operators say more needs to be done to stabilise the care sector to avoid not only a breakdown in the workforce but in the very existence of large parts of the sector.  And unless immediate action is taken the sector has warned there may be a crisis in both workforce numbers and the availability of care home places across Scotland.

The message will be delivered at the National Care Home Conference in Glasgow today (FRI NOV 17) by Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, the representative body for the country’s independent social care services. The 450 delegate event, which is sponsored by the Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank, will see addresses by Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport Shona Robison and Professor Sir Harry Burns.

Unveiling a new report on mental health – ‘Fragile Foundations: Exploring the Mental Health of the Social Care Workforce and the People They Support’ – Dr Macaskill said that research with front line staff has highlighted just how much strain is on this workforce because of the issues facing the provision of care home support in Scotland, resulting in poor mental health being commonplace.

He said:

“This report tells the stories of the hundreds of individuals who live with mental health challenges and who access social care support, often in old age. It highlights that for many, their mental health needs are not being addressed adequately due to an inherent societal ageism and a lack of adequate resourcing of social care supports.  The report challenges us to do more as a society to recognise, support and care for those who are old and facing mental health issues. It is unapologetic about what appears to be at times a wilful disregard for the mental health needs of older citizens in Scotland.”

“But this report also seeks to describe the experiences of those who work in care at home and care home services and who every day are supporting individuals to live fulfilling lives. It shares the voices of a workforce offering dedicated, person centred care but which is itself struggling to deal with the very real challenges which caring itself brings and who are often struggling to cope.”

Detailing the scale of the problem facing the care sector in relation to its stretched workforce, Dr Macaskill will tell delegates:

“This research further underlines the significant recruitment and retention challenges which are facing both the care home, care at home and housing support sector in Scotland. The impact of effectively losing a third of the workforce each year is being felt both by those who remain in the sector to work and those who are in receipt of care and support.”

One of the biggest problems identified in the report is the levels of physical and mental exhaustion being experienced by the workforce as a result of the time and staffing pressures they face, whilst continuing to strive to meet the diverse and changing needs of the individuals they support.

Dr Macaskill said:

“The foundations of social care are rapidly being eroded. In the name of efficiencies and limited resource, more and more elements are being removed or minimised from social care services and their workforce through commissioning and procurement processes, from the time allocated to visiting clients to staffing levels to training budgets. What’s more, Scottish Care’s previous research has highlighted that many services’ viability is under significant threat. This new research has shown that, to many providers and care workers, the increasing demands and expectations on services combined with the constant stripping out of elements which stabilise a service and allow it to develop means that they are constantly trying to maintain a precarious balance.  It very much feels like a game of Jenga: pull one more piece out, and the whole thing may collapse.  Except this is not a game.  We’re talking about people’s lives.

“This raises questions about how long we can continue to damage the quality of care provided to our older citizens and the mental wellbeing of the crucial social care workforce through the under-resourcing and undervaluing of care services.

 “The voices of care staff heard in this report make for an uncomfortable read. They ask us to challenge the lack of recognition and resource we allocate to the mental health supports of individuals who are often hidden at the heart of our communities. They challenge us to acknowledge just how precarious the system of care and support is at this present time right across Scotland.”

Conference Chair Ranald Mair OBE will also issue a warning of the looming crisis in care provision in Scotland:

“The current national care home contract runs out at the end of March.  As yet there is no clarity about what will take its place. Local Councils and partnerships need to urgently engage care home providers on what provision they require going forward and what the funding arrangements in each area will be.  The current uncertainty threatens to further destabilise the sector at a point when more providers are looking to exit and very few are looking to come in. Against the backdrop of austerity, the challenges of having adequate funding and being able to recruit and retain staff are making providing care home provision a less and less attractive proposition.  The Government, Councils and Health Boards need to get real and put in place a framework which guarantees sustainable commissioning, sustainable funding and a sustainable workforce.  Failure to do so could well result in a collapse of provision across the country.  All parties need to rise to the challenge and use the next 20 weeks, nationally and locally, to create a sustainable future.  The security and wellbeing of over 33,000 residents and over 46,000 staff depends on getting it right.”

You can follow updates from the conference on Twitter at #carehome17

Raising the Standards event – 29 November, Glasgow

Raising the Standards: older people’s care and human rights

10am – 3pm, Wednesday 29 November 2017

Renfield Centre, Bath St, Glasgow

In June 2017 the Scottish Government published the new Health and Social Care Standards.  The Standards set out what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. They seek to provide better outcomes for everyone; to ensure that individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and that the basic human rights we are all entitled to are upheld.

The new Standards will be implemented from April 2018, initially in care homes for adults.

This free conference is an opportunity to explore the issues of embedding the new Standards and a human rights based approach into the practical delivery of care services.  It will combine a mixture of presentations and workshops to enable participants to get the best from the day.

The event will also see the launch of a new fund for care homes, aimed at making rights real for people with dementia living in care homes.   Scottish Care is delighted to be partnering in this fund with Life Changes Trust.

This is your opportunity to find out all you need to know about the new Standards, human rights and Self-directed Support and what they mean for your care provision.

View the programme

Book your place now

To book places for this event please email [email protected] or give a note of your name to the conference registration desk today.

Care home sector warns of intolerable nursing shortages, with 31% of posts vacant

Today (9 November 2017), Scottish Care has published a new report on the picture of nursing in the independent social care sector.

The report, entitled Independent Sector Nursing Data 2017, depicts both the highlights and challenges of nursing in care homes in Scotland and illustrates the nurse recruitment and retention crisis currently being faced.

Speaking ahead of the report’s launch, Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, said nearly a third of nursing posts are currently vacant, forcing care home operators to increasingly rely on agencies to fill their nursing rotas at an average cost of £434-per-shift although some agencies can charge up to £1000-per-shift.

“Last year we reported that we were facing significant challenge in relation to the shortage of nurses working in our care homes.  Despite strenuous efforts matters have got even worse in 2017 and we are now at the stage of many care homes being placed at real risk in terms of their survival. Paying exorbitant agency fees to plug a continuing gap is wholly unsustainable. Urgent short-term measures are needed, and require us to work with Scottish Government and other partners, to find solutions to this challenge.”

The biggest problem identified in the report is an insufficient supply of nurses.

Dr Macaskill said: “This raises questions about whether current student nurse intake levels are sufficient.”

He added: “The report also found that there has been a huge increase in turnover – standing at 46% in the last year compared to 29% the year before. Coupled with the already negative impacts of Brexit there are growing pressures on our abilities to staff nursing posts now and into the future. Unless we are to be faced with more and more people stuck in hospital we need to seriously invest in nursing provision in Scotland’s care home sector.”

Dr Macaskill continued:

“We’re facing an immediate challenge in relation to the shortage of nurses working in our care homes.  Whilst the general shortage of nurses is a serious issue, we also need to look at why many people, nurses and other professions, are not choosing to work in care homes.  We need to attract more people to work in the social care sector and articulate the many benefits of doing so.  These measures require us to work with Scottish Government and other partners, including colleges, universities and health and social care partnerships to urgently address these issues.

“We need to work with a range of people and organisations to make social care an attractive career path, and also to make sure people understand what brilliant places care homes can be to live and work in.  We need to stop talking down care homes and start celebrating them.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors:

Independent Sector Nursing Data 2017 is based on survey data from 91 care organisations, representing 317 individual services and approximately 2,400 nurses from the sector.  It provides some headline facts and figures about the sector in relation to the recruitment and retention of nurses.

  • A 44% increase in number of nurses registered with nurse agencies in 2014-2016
  • 64% of nurses in care homes are over the age of 45
  • Average vacancy levels across sector 31% (28% in 2016)
  • 91% of providers are finding it hard to fill nursing posts compared to 68% in 2015.
  • 54% of providers think it is harder this year than last year
  • Turnover of nursing staff is now 43% compared to 29% in 2016.
  • Average cost of agency nurse for a shift is £434 (in 2016 was £343)
  • 46% of providers have increased their use of agency staff in the last three months

Scottish Care is a membership organisation and the representative body for independent social care services in Scotland.

Scottish Care represents over 400 organisations, which totals almost 1000 individual services, delivering residential care, nursing care, day care, care at home and housing support services.

Our membership covers both private and voluntary sector provider organisations.  It includes organisations of varying types and sizes, amongst them single providers, small and medium sized groups, national providers and not-for-profit voluntary organisations and associations.

Our members deliver a wide range of registered services for older people as well as those with long term conditions, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, dementia or mental health problems.

The Scottish independent social care sector contributes to:

  • The employment of approximately 100,000 people
  • The employment of 5,000 nurses
  • The provision of 89% of care home places in Scotland

To Absent Friends Festival 1-7 November 2017

People who have died remain a part of our lives – their stories are our stories, yet many Scottish traditions relating to the expression of loss and remembrance have faded over time.

To Absent Friends gives people across Scotland an excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died. To Absent Friends, a People’s Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create new ones.

The annual To Absent Friends festival will take place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2017.

More details can be found at https://www.toabsentfriends.org.uk/content/festival/