« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
FOREWORD
I am pleased to present the report and recommendations of the Independent Funding Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland.
I believe that these recommendations, when taken together as a package and provided they are fully embraced by both central and local government, can resolve the problems which have affected the policy in its early years and present Ministers with a clear way forward in terms of embedding free personal care as an important part of the Scottish care system, while recognising that there are very serious challenges just around the corner which government needs to plan for now.
I was asked in the summer of 2007 by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing to carry out an Independent Funding Review of the Free Personal and Nursing Care Policy in Scotland.
In carrying out this task I have had the support of an expert and knowledgeable group and also of a very efficient and effective secretariat headed by Rhona Dubery, who was seconded from the Scottish Government for the duration of the independent review. To all of these I am much indebted.
The remit which I was given is set out in Part 1, but essentially it covered 4 key areas: the funding available for the policy; the distribution of resources between local authorities; the impact of the withdrawal by the UK Government of Attendance Allowance from people receiving Free Personal and Nursing Care; and how to ensure that funding for the long-term care of older people is sustainable.
I was helped in this task by a complementary study prepared for the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission by Audit Scotland, which was published on 1 February 2008. I also took note of the simultaneous work by 2 working groups of government and local authority officials dealing with immediate practical issues which have affected the operation of the policy.
Many people took up the opportunity to contribute to the review, despite, in many cases, having already offered views to Parliamentary inquiries and other studies which have looked at the working of the policy over the past 5 years or so. The tight timescale for the Review meant that views had to be invited and offered within short deadlines and I am very grateful to all those who took the time to share the benefit of their knowledge and experience.
Lord Sutherland
« Previous | Contents | Next »