Care body warns of human rights complacency in Scotland

The representative body for independent care services has called on the Scottish Government to make human rights meaningful for older people in Scotland, including those living with dementia.

Scottish Care has today warned that Scotland is becoming ‘complacent’ in protecting against everyday human rights abuses for vulnerable citizens through a lack of action.

The call for action will be made at an event in Glasgow today (29 Nov), which will bring together stakeholders from across health and social care to explore the realities of human rights for care delivery in Scotland.

At the event, Scottish Care CEO Dr Donald Macaskill will tell delegates:

“Human rights complacency happens when people delude themselves into thinking that the articulation of rights is equivalent to the realisation of those rights. Merely having excellent human rights based legislation does not give citizens the ability to realise and access those self-same human rights.

“In too many instances, such as Self-directed Support, we talk a good game in Scotland but the reality is less than what we would desire.

“The failure to invest, to monitor, to hold accountable and to hold to task those who have acted against the human rights enshrined within the Self-directed Support Act should shame us all. The peril of human rights complacency is that we issue an Audit report, utter some rebuke, gain some negative media headlines, but effectively fail to really challenge and change the systemic breach of those human rights.

“So today across Scotland we will still have instances where hundreds of older people will fail to be properly assessed, informed of what budget they have to spend, be given real choice for their care and support, and if they want to, be able to alter that package of care and do something new and different. For too many there is no choice. No transparent offering of information to enable folks to make decisions. Rather, there is a complacent attitude that the old don’t want the fuss or trouble of taking control of their lives.”

The event will also see the launch of a new fund, made available by Scottish Care and Life Changes Trust, aimed at making rights real for people with dementia living in care homes.

Speaking about the Rights Made Real fund, which care home services can apply for, Dr Macaskill said:

“I am delighted that Life Changes Trust has dedicated £300,000 to work alongside Scottish Care to further embed human rights in Scotland’s care homes. I look forward to seeing a whole range of creative projects which will help care homes to get even better at delivering a human-rights based approach to care.”

Anna Buchanan, Programme Director at Life Changes Trust, added:

“The funding on offer from the Life Changes Trust is for initiatives in care homes that demonstrate better ways of making rights real for people who live there. Care home residents still have a life to live and they have the right to thrive. Older people, including those living with dementia, have a right to maintain strong connections with family and friends, with their communities and with the things that matter to them. They do not give up these rights when they cross the threshold of a care home. We are looking to fund creative and innovative projects and ways of working that will benefit people living with dementia and show others how to make rights real in care homes.”

Would you like to make a difference and contribute to the work of the Care Inspectorate? If so, there are roles which have just been advertised and which may interest you.

Scottish Minsters are looking to make-up to three appointments to the Board of the Care Inspectorate from 1 March 2018.

The Care Inspectorate regulates and inspects care services in Scotland to make sure that they meet the right standards. They also jointly inspect with other regulators to check how well different organisations in local areas work to support adults and children. Set up by Scottish Government, and accountable to ministers, it is their job to assure and protect everyone that uses these services. They work to make sure that everyone gets safe, high quality care that meets their needs. Their 600 staff work across Scotland, inspecting thousands of services each year.

The Chair and the eleven members of the Board set the strategic direction of the Care Inspectorate, taking into account legislation and policy guidance set by the Scottish Government. Each member of the board brings a wealth of experience and wide-ranging skills, along with a passionate interest in social care.

Ministers are looking for those who have:

• experience of caring for someone who is using, or has used, social care and/or social work services; or
• strategic experience of Local Government or Integration Authorities; or
• strategic experience of social care provision or commissioning gained in the public, independent or voluntary sectors.

Those appointed would also need to demonstrate:

• ability to examine and review complex issues and reach decisions;
• ability to demonstrate you can work effectively in a team or group environment to deliver results;
• ability to challenge constructively and influence decision as part of a group; and
• ability to communicate effectively.

The appointments are for up to four years, with the possibility of reappointment.

Members receive £163.00 per day for a time commitment of up to two days per month.

Travel and subsistence allowances are also payable, however, the appointments are not pensionable.

Full information on the appointments is at www.appointed-for-scotland.org/. The closing date for applications is Friday, 15 December 2017.

Scottish Ministers welcome applications from groups currently under-represented on Scotland’s public bodies, such as women, disabled people and people aged under 50.

 

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

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

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.

 

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: 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.