More than 9,000 people in limbo for social care

Responding to new Public Health Scotland figures which show that 9,381 people are either waiting for a social care assessment or have been assessed and are waiting for a care at home package, an increase on last month, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“When so many people can’t get care at home or in the community, hospitals become overwhelmed and waiting times shoot up.

“For four years, the SNP wasted £30 million on a bureaucratic, ministerial power grab of social care which they have been forced to junk. That was money that could have paid the salaries of 1,200 care workers.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats are the party of care. We want to see a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher, getting people the help they need and easing pressure across the health service.”