Chamber and committees

Okay. Thank you.

So you would promote a bill that supports the establishment of equity for social care workers, equivalent to national health service workers. I suppose that that is what I am driving at. If we are able to demonstrate in the bill that care workers will be given parity, and if the national care service was able to deliver a pathway that increased the visibility of social care, which is the career choice of some people—you are absolutely right that it is predominantly women and that it is not always full-time work—that would be something that you would support.

I have a quick supplementary question.

Cara Stevenson said that something needs to be done now. My understanding is that the Scottish Government published a winter preparedness plan on 24 October, which is a joint publication by the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Councillor Paul Kelly, who is COSLA’s health spokesperson. The plan has eight priorities for care and how we support people over the winter.

The development of the bill is for the future, and the winter preparedness plan is action that is being taken right now. Do the eight priorities cover ensuring care at home as much as possible, consistent messaging to the public and supporting staff? There is a focus on recruitment, retention and wellbeing of staff as part of those priorities. I am interested in the priorities that will be delivered over this winter. If we reflect on what works, those priorities could go into the future regulations for the national care service bill. Should we also consider that? The winter preparedness plan is being delivered right now, and its priorities could be reflected on for the future.

Thank you.

Most of what I was gonnae ask about has already been covered. We have kind of covered this, too, but I want to ask about the current status of social care as far as esteem and career pathways go, and in relation to making sure that the public knows the contribution that our care workers make across Scotland. Over the summer, I heard from workers in Stewartry Care about the level of skill and experience involved in what they provide to people in their homes and in care homes. I am interested in what your current members think or perceive about their roles in social care. Does more work need to be done to demonstrate to everybody the value of social care?

I see that Cara’s microphone is on—and I see Lilian Macer nodding, too.

I have a quick question about self-directed support. It is 10 years since the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 was passed, and the committee has heard questions about how self-directed support is working or not working. Donald Macaskill has said that 70 per cent of care involves third sector organisations. I am interested in the difference that the bill can make in addressing immediate challenges in social care, such as improving self-directed support, which is all about people taking control and making choices for themselves.

I am not sure who wants to answer that first.

Good morning. My question is kind of on the back of Sandesh Gulhane’s question. Will establishing a national care service increase the visibility of social care and give it equal weighting and equal standing? In previous scrutiny of the bill, I was keen to look at standardised education, career pathways, increasing social care’s visibility and establishing a process for recognising social care as a professional career pathway, because we see the work that social care providers do when they go into people’s homes, for instance.

I declare an interest, as I am still a registered nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. I am interested in whether you agree that, if the national care service is nationally managed, it will improve the visibility of our care workers.

You have given some good examples, such as PEG tube feeding and caring for people who have stomas, and I was also thinking of the support provided to people for, say, reablement and recovery from stroke. That sort of support involves mobility, moving and handling, all of which requires lots of skill.

Are we confident that at the moment we have a multidisciplinary approach to assessing people’s needs so that care can be delivered effectively? Could we reflect in the bill that need for the right assessment to deliver the right care to the right person?

So, is the winter preparedness plan not deliverable?

Evaluation of the plan is essential in order to reflect on what works and what we should take forward in the bill.