The first page of the SNP’s manifesto at the last Holyrood election included a personal promise from Nicola Sturgeon. Covid had exposed the frailties of the social care system and Sturgeon vowed to create a “new National Care Service”.
The manifesto also claimed the NCS would be established within a year and aim to have it “fully functioning” by 2026. Sturgeon is now an ex First Minister and her plan for a care revolution has been killed off by her former deputy John Swinney.
The NCS debacle was an avoidable failure.
Many groups, from unions to opposition parties, agree with the principle of a national service, but SNP Ministers could not explain the policy. The Government could also not allay suspicions the huge reorganisation was a power grab from councils.
When the Greens finally walked off the pitch last year, Ministers knew it was over.
The SNP’s flagship health and social care policy is in disarray and they have almost nothing to show for the £30m of public money blown on the project. This epic policy failure also underlines how health and social care are Swinney’s biggest obstacles to re-election.
Public satisfaction with the NHS is at a record low and the problems with a locally-delivered care system remain. Over 800,000 Scots are waiting for treatment and delayed discharge is causing havoc with the fragile ecosystem of care in the NHS.
Health Secretary Neil Gray did not create the mess with the NCS, but he is in the chair and is struggling in the job. He has proven himself to be gaffe prone – the story about him taking limos to football matches refuses to die – and Swinney appears unimpressed.
In an unprecedented action, the First Minister recently took joint control of the response to the NHS crisis, making Gray look weak.
Swinney will likely reshuffle his Cabinet this year and Gray is a contender to be moved sideways. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Justice Secretary Angela Constance and social justice chief Shirley-Anne Somerville have the trust of the FM and one of the three will probably take Gray’s job.
The clock is ticking for the Health Secretary and Swinney is running out of patience.
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