Scotland’s proposed National Care Service is branded a ‘glorified commissioning service’
THE Scottish Government has been accused of using National Care Service plans to offer a “glorified commissioning service” rather than focusing on the quality of care.
Scottish Labour made the claim as it revealed it had obtained information showing the Government has spent up to £1.6 million in consultancy fees with private sector advisers – such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG – relating to its proposals for the service.
Earlier this week, Holyrood’s Finance and Public Administrations Committee heard evidence on the estimated financial implications of the plan, which aims to combine social work, social care and community health.
SNP MSPs voiced concerns over the National Care Service proposals, with committee convener Kenneth Gibson saying the policy “seemed like a sledgehammer to crack a nut” if it does not provide the funding to address issues in the healthcare sector.
Michelle Thomson MSP also said she had “no confidence whatsoever” that the service’s financial memorandum represents any level of accuracy or value for money.
Ms Thomson claimed a lack of scrutiny over the planned expenditure amounted to the Scottish Government signing a “blank cheque for the public purse.”
Addressing a Government representative during a parliamentary finance committee meeting earlier this week, Ms Thomson added: “If it was your money you wouldn’t be risking it.”
Labour has now claimed that spending on private sector consultants shows the Scottish Government is “bereft of vision and ideas and is not putting the concerns of care workers and service users at the heart” of its plans.
Jackie Baillie, the party’s health spokeswoman, said: “The facts are clear for all to see – the
SNP does not have a clue what they are doing with a National Care Service and have to call on private consultants to help them out.
“Serious questions need to be asked over why the SNP do not believe that there is the expertise within the public sector – in health and social care – or with the army of civil servants in Edinburgh to carry out this work.
“After ignoring the protests of trade unions, the voluntary sector and frontline workers for over a year, it is obvious that the SNP is only interested in pursuing a centralised National Care Service that is shaped by the private sector.
“It will end up being a glorified commissioning service rather than one that is focused on the quality of care.
“If we are to have a National Care Service worthy of the name, then care users and social care staff must be at its very heart.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Where it makes sense to use external expertise to free up civil servants to focus on the policy development and implementation, we will do that, as other governments do.
“The establishment of a National Care Service will be the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the National Health Service.
“Its establishment will be a very complex process and it is important that we remain focused on what achieves the best possible outcomes for people accessing care and support and care workers, as well as ending the postcode lottery of care.
“We procured both PwC and KPMG’s specialist services to advise us on how best to make sure that we remain focused on outcomes and people while we establish the National Care Service.
“Neither contract involved these companies designing or delivering any aspect of the National Care Service.”