Sturgeon Time For Radical Thinking On Care Service

First Minister backs plans for massive shake-up of system

- Paul Hutcheon

Nicola Sturgeon has backed plans for the most radical shake-up of the care home system in decades.

The First Minister has “huge sympathy” for the creation of a national care service, which could lead to greater public control and ownership.

After the Daily Record urged MSPs to support the proposal, she said: “It’s an example of how we need to be prepared to rethink old ways of doing things.”

Gary Smith of the GMB trade union, which represents care staff, said: “The Record’s Intervention has been vital, pressuring politicians and raising this into the public consciousness.”

The Covid-19 death toll in Scots care homes has become the biggest scandal of the pandemic. At 1818, it now outstrips those in hospitals.

A lack of PPE has been a major problem, as was moving patients from hospitals to care homes without testing them for Covid.

However, although a likely public inquiry will examine these failings, politicians believe wider reform of the sector is overdue.

Low pay, underfunding and collective bargaining are all up for debate– as is care homeownership.