This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Free personal care gets go ahead
06/02/2002
The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Bill - which
will deliver major improvements in community care services,
including the provision of free nursing and personal care,
passed its final stage in Parliament today.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm hailed the Bill's
progress as a major step forward in improving care and
support for older and more vulnerable citizens by providing
greater benefits such as: fairer charging; greater choice;
more independence; better support for carers; and more
effective joint working between the NHS and local
authorities.
Mr Chisholm, who chaired the Care Development Group
which brought forward many of the Bill's key proposals on
free nursing and personal care, said:
"This Bill will deliver free personal care for older
people and ensure that nursing care is finally free for all
who need it. From frail, older people to those suffering
from dementia or requiring long term care because of a
stroke. This valuable care will be provided free in homes
as well as at home from 1 July. It will be based on an
individual's care needs and marks a huge step forward in
fairer charging for care services.
"This emphasis on greater choice for people in need of
care, will be further enhanced by the Bill's provisions to
extend Direct Payments throughout Scotland and to all
client groups. Currently only around 200 people in Scotland
receive these but potentially up to 70,000 home care users
could benefit from Direct Payments, which enable people to
arrange their own services, rather than having them
provided and chosen for them by their local authority.
Improved access to Direct Payments will also give people
the power to choose the best care package to suit their
needs - irrespective of whether that care is delivered by
local authorities, the voluntary sector or the private
sector. One major benefit will be that instead of having
their care needs met by half a dozen different care staff,
people receiving care will able be to employ one or two
personal assistants to provide care in the way that best
suits them.
"People who need to go into care homes will also
benefit. As well as providing the legislative framework to
deliver free personal care, the Bill will ensure greater
re-assurance and peace of mind for older people worried
about losing their home to pay for other parts of their
care like 'hotel' and living costs.
"The Bill's deferred payment provisions will mean that
instead of having to sell their home up-front to meet these
costs, they will be able to enter an agreement with their
local authority to have part of their fees paid and for the
balance to be settled from their estate.
"The Bill will also complement our wider Carers'
Strategy in improving support for carers, recognising their
status as key partners in the delivery of care, and giving
them the right to an assessment of their ability to care,
independent of the person actually receiving care.
"Its provisions will also allow new, closer, joint
working between NHSScotland and local authorities, enabling
them to develop more effective, seamless services to suit
local circumstances. It will give them real flexibility in
how they jointly manage and resource services. For someone
needing care, this should mean dealing with a 'one stop
shop' for all their care needs, instead of having to deal
separately with the NHS and local authorities as is often
the case.
"Today is far from the end of the process. There remain
challenges ahead and we will now need to turn our attention
to the work needed to make sure these laws are put into
practice. The priority is to match legislative change with
real delivery on the ground. Given that we have already
embarked on the biggest ever investment in older people's
services in Scotland, I am confident we can do just that. I
am equally sure that thousands of people across Scotland
and their carers will agree that this Bill is a major step
towards improving their care."
The Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 25
September 2001. It has now gone forward for Royal
Assent.
As announced last month, full implementation of free
nursing and personal care in Scotland, will be delivered
from 1 July this year - a three-month extension to the
original plan - to allow local authorities and other
providers to ensure that the right assessment and delivery
mechanisms are in place.