Report to the People
The Delivery of Free Personal Care
For the second week in a row, the big story
in the Scottish Parliament has been on how we look after our elderly.
After discussions the previous week over how
we make sure the NHS is ready to care for our ageing population in future years,
last week’s debate focussed on more immediate matters. I am talking, of
course, about the introduction of free personal care.
A long held goal for many, the passing on
Wednesday of the Community Care and Health Bill paves the way for the delivery
of free personal care on 1st July this year. From that date
(coincidentally exactly three years after the Scottish Parliament took up its
powers), all personal care charges for people cared for in their own homes will
be abolished. Also, everyone who needs nursing care – whether they are cared
for at home, in hospital or, for the first time, in a nursing home – will
receive it free of charge.
But while, unsurprisingly, much of the
attention surrounding Wednesday’s debate was on free care, there is a lot more
to the new measures. There are in fact several important changes which will be
crucial in giving us dignity and peace of mind in our later years.
For example, Direct Payments – which give
the users of a service the cash to choose and pay for their own services
themselves – will be extended to people not in residential care. This gives
people the power to get the service which is right for them and, should the
service not come up to standard, allows them to take their business elsewhere.
The NHS and local councils, the main public
sector care providers, will also work together more closely. Ministers will be
able to require them to enter into joint arrangements for the provision and
funding of services, while protecting the conditions of transferred staff.
There are many strands to delivering high
quality care for our older people – free personal care is just one. However,
taken together with initiatives such as putting services for older people at the
heart of the NHS and helping the elderly spend as long as they can in their own
home, it is a big step.
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