Jeane Freeman could not hide her disappointment when discussing the Scottish Government’s failed plan to create a National Care Service. The former health secretary helped pave the way for a massive overhaul of how the care sector operates.
After retiring from frontline politics in 2021, Freeman must have been confident her successors would see the ambitious project through. Instead, the Scottish Government failed to reach agreement with the key organisations involved on what shape the new care service should take.
Unions and local authorities soon withdrew support entirely. Opposition parties made it known they would vote against the legislation. With the SNP lacking a majority, a humiliating climbdown followed. It was left to Maree Todd to tell MSPs what they already knew last week – the plan for a National Care Service was in tatters.
Freeman, a former SNP minister, blamed the government for failing to win over the partners it required to make the scheme work. The issues with Scotland’s care sector tie in with the struggling NHS. Bed-blocking in hospitals is caused by delayed discharge, when a patient deemed medically fit to return home cannot do so because a suitable care package can’t be agreed.
At a time when care homes are closing in many parts of the country, this is a problem that looks set to get worse before it gets better.
Scots will be watching John Swinney closely as he pledges today his government can turn the health service around. Hospitals need action, not just words.
Teams storm in
Storm Éowyn may have passed but the clean-up continues.
Thousands of homes remain without power and public transport is only beginning to return to normal. The hundreds of workers involved in returning electricity supplies to households deserve our thanks. They’ve been kept busy all weekend in often trying weather conditions.
The same goes to Network Rail staff involved in clearing debris from more than 2000 miles of track across Scotland. Countless other council workers have been removing fallen trees or broken masonry from our pavements and roads.
The economic cost of closing down most of the country on Friday will be considerable. But that makes it all the more important to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. And that wouldn’t be achievable if it wasn’t for skilled teams working night and day since the storm blew in.
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