By Kate Ramsden
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Stephen Smellie
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UNISON joined with Fife Trade Union Councils to
condemn the many councils across Scotland that are
increasing home care charges and reducing the time
allocated to vulnerable elderly and disabled people.
It urged congress to campaign against these disgraceful
cuts in service which impact most on the most vulnerable
in our society.
Stephen Smellie of UNISON Scotland slammed the
increased charges, and told congress that other
attacks on home care services were less obvious
but no less worrying. He pointed to huge reductions
in the amount of time home carers can spend with
their service users, and to assessment criteria
being altered so that only those regarded as high
dependency get a service.
"What is happening is a form of rationing
of public resources because of a lack of investment
in home care services - and with an increasing elderly
population, this is getting worse year after year,"
he said, warning of the increasing pressure to "externalise"
services to find cheaper options. "From a union
perspective this also means a real threat to members'
jobs," he added.
He called on Congress to campaign for more resources
to invest in staff, to keep services accessible
to all who need them and to improve flexibility,
reliability and quality. "The first minister
talked about two key elements for the future of
Scotland; investment in human capital, allied to
a competitive edge," Stephen told delegates.
"In the Scotland that we want, we need to invest
in human capital and ally that to supporting and
caring for the most vulnerable in our society."
Scotland's
public service union
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