Sturgeon Promises A National Care Service In ‘Transformational’ Spending Increase

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to create a National Care Service and National Care Wage, if her SNP party is re-elected in May.

The SNP leader says her party is putting the health service at the heart of its plans for the next five years.

The SNP manifesto for the May 6 Scottish Parliament election will include an undertaking to increase frontline NHS spending by at least 20 per cent, a move which would see frontline spending rise by more than £2.5 billion by the end of the next Holyrood term.

Ms Sturgeon’s party will also promise voters a £10 billion programme on investment in NHS facilities, combined with a minimum 25 per cent rise in mental health spending and the establishment of a National Care Service.

Scottish Care has called for a National Care Service which ‘must be a vehicle for collaboration, transformation and bridging the implementation gaps that currently exist.’

Scottish Care stated: Karen Hedge, National Director says: “We are at a standpoint for social care. The pandemic has highlighted the potential of the sector; the agility of our providers and the dedication and skill of our workforce. This, coupled with the Review of Adult Social Care, has changed parameters and expectations of the sector making the forthcoming election a critical opportunity to address the 8 areas of focus outlined by Scottish Care in their Social Care Covenant, so that we can get this right for the people of Scotland.”

Scottish Care has also called for the creation of a social care minister role, stating: ‘We are presented with an opportunity to improve relationships and understanding, and to rightly elevate social care to equal status with NHS Scotland in terms of leadership and accountability.’

The First Minister added: “If the SNP is re-elected we will use our experience to undertake a full-scale post-pandemic remobilisation of the NHS,” the SNP leader will promise.

“Today I am pledging a transformational increase in frontline health spending.

“Investment in the NHS is already at record levels. But the pandemic has placed exceptional pressures on our NHS – and that requires an exceptional response.

“Over the next Parliament, we will increase frontline NHS spending by at least 20%. This will deliver an additional £2.5 billion for frontline health services – and is almost double what an inflation-only increase would amount to.”