Call for help for ‘broken system’

A union is calling for Scotland’s “broken” care system to be transformed into a national care service after the pandemic.

Unison said adult social care has been the “forgotten front line” in the response to the crisis, with deaths in care homes rising even as they declined in hospitals.

In a report titled Care After Covid: A Vision For Social Care In Scotland, the union said the sector was “woefully underprepared” for the pandemic.

It said an inadequate testing programme and employer pressure on care workers to attend work against public health advice meant they were exposed to “significantly higher” risk of contracting Covid-19.

Unison said there needs to be substantial extra investment in social care as a matter of urgency, and the sector needs to be seen as an important economic sector providing highquality, well-paid jobs.

Unison Scottish secretary Mike Kirby said: “Underpaid, undervalued and undermined staff are at breaking point. The Covid-19 crisis has exposed just how desperately the care sector needs reform.

“Fundamental reform to create a system fit for the future is not optional, it is essential.”

The union said care staff must be paid at least the Scottish Living Wage – or at least £10 an hour until the Living Wage reaches this level – and called for a new standard employment contract including sick pay, contracted hours and payment for all the time they are on duty.

The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.