On 3 February, the report and recommendations from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care were published.
Chaired by Derek Feeley, a former Scottish Government Director General for Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, the principal aim of the review was to recommend improvements to adult social care in Scotland, primarily in terms of the outcomes achieved by and with people who use services, their carers and families, and the experience of people who work in adult social care.
The report makes 53 recommendations, ranging from more funding for unpaid carer respite services, to creating a new care minister to oversee reform. It supports the creation of a National Care Service - one which will set national standards, terms and conditions, and drive consistent, high quality social care support in partnership with people who have a right to receive that support, unpaid carers and the workforce.
It also acknowledges the importance of building on the work around self-directed support, the integration of health and social care, and the promise of the Carers Act.
Derek Feeley comments:
"The answer to tomorrow’s challenges in social care support is not more of the same... we set out our vision for that new system. We describe how a National Care Service can drive consistent, high quality social care support in partnership with people who have a right to receive that support, unpaid carers and the workforce.
We need a culture shift that values human rights, lived experience, co production, mutuality and the common good. In her Programme for Government speech that launched this review, the First Minister said 'this is a time to be bold'."
Iriss is excited to be part of a national approach to improvement in adult social care, which will maximise learning opportunities and create a culture of developing and sharing methods that improve outcomes.
Dee Fraser, CEO at Iriss said:
"We welcome the work of the independent review of adult social care. We note our appreciation to the panel for how carefully they have listened to people and organisations to make recommendations that are both ambitious and practical.
As an organisation whose business is using knowledge to support change and innovation, we at Iriss were delighted to see a recognition of the efforts needed to bridge the rhetoric-reality gap to put the recommendations into practice. We look forward to playing our part in making change happen."
Read Dee Fraser's views on the Review report.
