Ministers want powers to buy care homes as owners accuse them of looking for scapegoats

T h e move – along wi t h an official attempt to assess the value of Scotland’s residential homes – has prompted operators to accuse ministers of planning “backdoor nationalisation” of the care sector.

An amendment allowing the purchase of homes is set to be added to new emergency coronavirus legislation being considered by MSPS on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, we can also reveal, government officials have been asking property experts to calculateamarketvalueforscotland’s 1,000 independent care homes – which industry experts say could reach £3 billion.

Yesterday, operators claimed the move shows the industry is being made a scapegoat for government failures following the deaths of more than 1,400 residents.

Ministers have been accused of abandoning care homes to infection as staff struggled to get tested or secure protective equipment; guidelines suggest, in some circumstances, staff could continue to work after testing positive; and elderly patients were discharged from hospital into homes without being tested.

Renaissance Care owner Robert Kilgour said: “We’v e been working night and day to keep staff and residents safe while begging again and again for testing from the very beginning of the pandemic with little result until the last two weeks, and this feels like the government making us scapegoats for their failures.

“Many owners will have genuine concern that this is an attempt to nationalise the care sector through the back door when we should all be working together and putting people before politics.

“It’s deeply disappointing, and a slap in the face.”

Health chiefs already have the power to step in to run or close

But for families of children with autism, adjusting to a new routine adds special pressure that has left many feeling adrift, isolated and struggling to cope.

Grow Communications, a social enterprise that supports families of children with complex learning difficulties or behavioural disorders, says young people and their parents require specialist support to survive the Covid-19 crisis.

“Families tell us they feel cut adrift and isolated,” said Jude Philip, a speech and language therapist with Grow. “Some parents are reporting very worrying behaviour in their children caused by increased stress and anxiety. Some children refuse to go outside because they fear the world is dangerous.

“Others have a loss of appetite and exhibit increased physical aggression towards siblings and parents. Some children are lashing out and even self- harming, and parents have told us they have been getting hurt by their child.”

Grow provides speech and language t h e r a p y, clinical psychology and psychiatry, and also occupational therapy.

Last week, it received £26,000 from the Scottish Government’swellbeing Fund to offer families tailored support, such as one- on- one video counselling and multi- disciplinary therapy, alongside the Perth- based organisation Motorvate Therapies.

“Many families were already struggling before the crisis and have been hit hard by the loss of resources like schools and other support networks,” said Jude.

“Most of our staff were furloughed so this funding is key to us offering free, tailored, lifeline support.”

There are 56,000 people diagnosed with autism in Scotland, including 9,500 children and young people aged under 15.

On May 4, the Scottish Government announced a £200,000 funding boost split between national charities Scottish Autism, and the National Autistic Society Scotland.

Scottish Autism has seen a stark increase in parents and carers contacting its advice line since lockdown began. The £ 160,000 allocated will allow the charity to operate its advice line seven days a week, 8am to 8pm.

Joanna Panese, who leads the charity’s autism support team and advice line, said: “Many parents are concerned about how to maintain a new routine, achieve good sleep patterns and manage stress and anxiety. This crisis is having a huge impact on the emotional, physical and mental wellbeing of autistic children and their parents.”

Drastic changes to children’s daily routine, like home- schooling, can have a huge impact.

“Children miss the structure and predictability school provides and that also impacts their normal home routines,” added Joanna. “Many parents have to juggle working from home with additional care- giving responsibilities.

“All of this causes increased stress and anxiety. Many parents are asking us to help them explain to their children what Covid- 19 is and why they can’t go to school or see their family and friends.”

But children with autism and their families could still be impacted after lockdown measures are eased, warned Jude.

“Before Covid-19, a quarter of our caseload was young people, mostly autistic children, who weren’t in school when lockdown began, for a variety of reasons,” she said. “Parents are worried because it was already a battle to get them into school before social distancing measures.

“Once lockdown starts to ease we expect the number of children struggling to get a place in a school to increase. This will impact parents expected to return to the workplace.”