Unite Calls For Support For Scotland’s Social Care Workers In Budget

Union says £440m delayed hospital discharge costs better spent on social care frontline.

Unite the union has demanded extra support for Scotland’s social care workers in tomorrow’s (Tuesday 13 January) Scottish government budget for the coming financial year.

Finance secretary Shona Robison will announce the budget four months before the Holyrood elections following reports that NHS Scotland spent £440m last year on beds for patients who were unable to leave hospital despite being ready to be discharged.

Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission said one in nine hospital beds were occupied because of delayed discharges in the 12 months to April 2025. Unite has said a significant proportion of the £440m spent by NHS Scotland could have been avoided and redirected towards more effective patient support packages if social care services in Scotland were properly and adequately funded.

The report highlighted that the main reasons for delays in patient discharge were: 28 per cent awaiting a care home place; 27 per cent awaiting completion of care home arrangements; 27 per cent due to complex delays; 14 per cent awaiting community care assessment, and four per cent was down to various other reasons.

Last September, Unite launched a nationwide campaign putting the demands of social care workers at the centre of the solutions needed to fix the crisis impacting the sector.

The union’s three key demands are:

• Fair and sustainable pay for registered social care workers that reflects their essential role
• A real terms increase in funding for social care in the Scottish Budget
• Meaningful engagement with all stakeholders to design a long-term future for social care in Scotland.

The union represents thousands of social care workers in the private, not-for-profit, and public sector who are facing an uncertain future due to the lack of investment in service provision.

Sharon Graham Unite general secretary said:
“The Scottish government has a clear choice to support frontline social care before the system becomes irreparably broken. It’s time for the politicians to back our social care workers and that only comes through investment in people and services.”

Unite says that without urgent Scottish government intervention and investment then social care providers could cease to function over the coming years resulting in job losses and more individuals leaving the profession which would lead to a ‘point of no return’ for the social care sector.

Shauna Wright, Unite lead officer for social care in Scotland said:
“Scotland’s social care workers are closely watching the Scottish government as it sets out their priorities for the coming year. The politicians can either back them and start to fix the crisis or continue to ignore them at a massive cost to Scottish society. ”