SOCIAL care staff need better pay and working conditions if the Scottish Government is to establish a National Care Service, Scotland’s Auditor General has said.
Holyrood’s Audit Committee heard there are “major problems with recruitment and retention” in the social care sector and existing staff do not feel valued or properly paid.
Giving evidence to MSPs about his report into social care, Stephen Boyle (below) said improvements must be made urgently and he warned: “Some things cannot wait for the establishment of a National Care Service.
“Stakeholders have told us about services in near crisis, and that a lack of ambition now presents serious risks to the delivery of care services.
“The Scottish Government needs to take a pragmatic approach and set out what can be improved now without legislation, while also taking time to determine where the National Care Service can add most value.”
Boyle suggested the Scottish Government’s pledge to invest another £800 million over the five-year term “hasn’t addressed the very specific challenges that the sector is facing, in terms of very high vacancy rates in the sector, and the overall attractability (sic) of people wanting to come into a very responsible, demanding role”.
Setting out some of the challenges, he added: “Concerns about career progression, stress, anxiety, the burden that has been placed upon people who’ve worked in a sector, and that there are other options to deploy their career choices.”
Boyle said: “The predominantly-female workforce does not feel adequately rewarded or valued, there are also major problems with recruitment and retention.
“The Scottish Government now needs to take action to improve working conditions for this vitally important workforce, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to deliver its ambitions for social care.”
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