Dear Mr MacKay I appreciate that in the run up to the Scottish Budget that you will have lots of reports to read and voices to hear, but I wonder if I can take a moment of your time and suggest that your budget needs to prioritise the social care sector in Scotland. It’s often said, sometimes even by politicians, that social care is an expense and drain on society and that it’s holding back investment in other areas. That’s a lazy pitch because I’d like to suggest that by investing more in social care that the economic benefits – never mind the societal ones – are even greater than might first be imagined. I say that for several reasons but probably the most important is the argument that social care enables the rest of society to function well and be economically active. That was the conclusion of an independent report published a few months ago which showed that social care is a net contributor to the Scottish economy of around £3.6 billion. The arguments and figures are there in black and white. Might I suggest your budget is a great opportunity for Scotland to become a champion of putting social care at the heart of our nation. I could draw up a long list of how you can spend your money – and I wouldn’t be the first I suspect. But we are facing real challenges in social care made event worse by the uncertainty over Brexit. We have 9 out of 10 care providers struggling to fill jobs, nearly a fifth of nursing posts in care homes are vacant, we have people now being supported in care homes who would have been in hospital five years ago. Homecare providers are struggling to pay the Scottish Living Wage and remain sustainable. Costs and prices are soaring. I could add a lot more to that list but the reports and the facts and the figures are all out there. What I want to say is that we need a priority and targeted resource – I have argued for over £200 million – to make adult care a priority for all Scotland. It was Human Rights Day on Monday and with others I was at Parliament celebrating the successes of the last decade. We have a great opportunity to build a nation which puts human rights at the heart of our communities. You can continue that process by a human rights based budget which puts the interests of the vulnerable, the old and young, those living with mental distress or at the end of their lives at the centre of your financing of our futures. That’s what social care does it gives hope and healing but it needs resourcing. Social care makes us into the country we are and want to be. Thanks for reading Donald Macaskill @DrDMacaskill

On the 10^th December which is the annual Human Rights Day there is reason for multiple celebration. That date is the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the 10^th anniversary of the creation of the Scottish Human Rights Commission. As part of attempts to raise awareness of the significance of these events and the priority of human rights have in Scottish society a social media campaign has been launched with the hashtag – #AllOurRights10.  Starting today (30 November) the Scottish Human Rights Commission will be releasing one short digital film per day, sharing ten different stories of people working to protect and promote human rights in their own community or context. They are all about highlighting the value and relevance of human rights in people’s lives. Today is Carers Rights Day. See https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/carers-rights-day/carers-rights-day-resources . It is also St Andrews Day, so a day of celebration of national identity and affirmation of our sense of belonging one to the other. It is therefore very appropriate that it is a day when we consider the importance of human rights to both paid and unpaid care and the role that care for others can have in creating a society in Scotland which values all, has care at its centre, and creates potential for everyone to be treated with dignity and respect. A couple of weeks ago I had the immense privilege of speaking to the Coalition of Carers conference in Edinburgh. The room was full of dedicated individuals who were involved in either supporting family carers or who were individuals who cared for a family member. I spoke to the group about how important it was for us to see the rights of family carers as basic human rights. We reflected on the way in which over the last ten years and more since the Scottish Parliament was formed that human rights have become embedded in political and policy discourse, and how so many pieces of our social care legislation have human rights at their core. However, I also shared my belief, and it is not inappropriate to reflect upon this today as we start to consider the approach to the 10^th December, that the journey towards  the realisation of human rights cannot conclude with the passing of innovative and good legislation. The real journey towards embedding rights for unpaid and family carers and for those who work in social care has to be in the robust implementation of all this good human rights based social care legislation. In that analysis, I believe, we still have a considerable distance to go on the journey. Sadly we know all too often and for far too many, especially older Scots, that the promise is unfulfilled. There are too many citizens today across Scotland who are not being able to fulfil their rights to the provisions of e.g., the Self-directed Support legislation. There are too many instances where we are playing at the system change and power transfer which some of our social care legislation predicates. There are too many who are not being properly assessed for their social care outcomes but for whom basic needs are only being addressed; too many who are not being told what budget they have to spend and are being denied information to enable them to exercise informed choice; too many who are having even their already basic packages of care diminished and reduced. We stand or fall in human rights terms not by what we promise and speak of, not by what we legislate and declare, but by what we enact, do and fulfil. In those terms we have some way to go before we have the ability to say that social care in Scotland has truly embedded human rights principles and is realising the human rights of our citizens. Implementation of rights is as critical as the articulation of those rights. Robust monitoring and inclusive evaluation is fundamental to ensuring people are not being led up to the top of the hill of promise and then let to slide backwards into disappointment. Every day 6,000 people across the UK become carers but often it’s not something they have prepared or planned for. This year’s Carers Rights Day is focusing on supporting people to prepare for the future through the theme Caring for Your Future.  It has three main focus areas:

1. Making carers aware of their rights.
2. Letting carers know where to get help and support.
3. Raising awareness of the needs of carers.

Carers Rights Day raises awareness of the needs of carers with the wider public, decision makers and professionals. Its aim is to realise the vision of a society that respects, values and supports carers. Too often in the past the voices of paid care organisations and family carers have been seen in opposition or discord, but the truth is that care unites us around a joint desire to ensure that the human rights of those cared for are upheld, that the abilities of unpaid and paid carers are valued and resourced, and that together we work to create a society where those who require support achieve and receive adequate care which enables them to continue to be the full citizens of our shared community, entitled to full rights and to be treated with full dignity. That journey starts with good legislation for carers and social care, it progresses with robust implementation of it, and it reaches its end with a society that truly gives value, affirms and welcomes the contribution and presence of all. That, I would suggest, was the energy and passion which inspired those who sat and signed the UN Declaration nearly 70 years ago. It should be our shared task on this Carers Rights Day and every day. Dr Donald Macaskill @DrDMacaskill