Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is grateful to the EHRC for their report and will give the basis for its work and recommendations careful consideration given our strong commitment to human rights.

Discharge decisions for individual patients are made by clinicians based on each patient’s needs. If somebody is discharged to a care home that should be because that has been assessed as the best place to meet their needs. As with other parts of the UK, guidance on discharge and admission to care homes has evolved since the start of the pandemic as understanding of the virus developed.

The overall policy, which has been in place since 22 April, is that people being admitted to a care home should have a negative test before admission, unless it is in the clinical interests of the person to be moved, and then only after a full risk assessment.

In a very small number of exceptional circumstances - and only where a clinician has judged that this is in the best interest for the care of their patient – some individuals may be discharged without being tested before admission. This may be due to an individual’s capacity to consent to testing or to avoid causing distress in some people with dementia. In such circumstances clinicians would also have to consider whether it is clinically appropriate to keep a patient in hospital.

The Minister for Mental Health is working closely with partners across the health and social care sector, including NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and local employers, to ensure mental health and wellbeing support is in place for the workforce.

On 11 May 2020, we launched the National Wellbeing Hub for health and social care workers (www.promis.scot). The Hub signposts staff, unpaid carers, volunteers and their families to relevant services, and provides a range of self-care and wellbeing resources designed to support the workforce as they respond to the impact of Covid-19. The Hub is part of a programme of activity at the national level which includes the allocation of a further £3.8 million to begin to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s Mental Health Hub and Breathing Space service, alongside increased access to digital therapies.

Based on evidence and experiences here and internationally, we will continue to explore how best to respond to those who need more specialist mental health support and care over the coming months.

The Scottish Government published National Care Standards on 9 June 2017. This lays down that irrespective of age, ability or cultural background we are all entitled to the same high quality of care and support. The care inspectorate will take into account these standards when carrying out their inspections.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34248 on 20 January 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

While employment law remains reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government is using its Fair Work policy to drive fairer work practices across Scotland's labour market.

One of the initial priorities for the Fair Work in Social Care Group has been to examine ways to enhance fair work for the social care workforce, using the recommendations of the Fair Work Convention (FWC) report on social care as a starting point.

Social care provider organisations and Trade Unions are represented on the Fair Work in Social Care Group and they are working together to develop advice on taking forward FWC recommendations. This includes consideration of how best to ensure that social care workers have an effective voice and the development of a collective bargaining role in the sector.

The conclusions of the Fair Work in Social Care Group are currently being developed and will be finalised following the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, which will report at the end of January. The Independent Review is considering what changes are needed to improve support for people who use adult social care support, their families, their carers and the workforce. As part of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care’s extensive engagement process, Derek Feeley, the Chair of the Review, has met with trade union representatives on a monthly basis and has also attended member meetings of GMB, Unite and Unison to hear about workers’ experiences first-hand.

The Scottish Government is committed to using the recommendations from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care made at the end of January to inform our plans for longstanding, sustainable improvements to adult social care and to ensure that workers in care homes and the wider social care sector are better supported.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34248 on 20 January 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Health and Social Care Standards seek to ensure individuals are treated with respect and dignity and that human rights are upheld, which includes being supported to make informed choices so that they may have control of their care and support.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 were introduced to respond to the emergency pandemic and to protect lives. The potential impacts on human rights and equal opportunities were assessed during the development of the legislation, taking into account stakeholder views, and are summarised in the published Policy Memorandums accompanying the Bills. There is regular reporting to the Scottish Parliament on the use of the powers contained within the Coronavirus Act 2020, Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020

The published document Equality and Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment: Evidence gathered for Scotland’s Route Map through and out of the Crisis sets out the evidence we have gathered in relation to the actual or likely impacts of the proposed activities on different groups, based on protected characteristics and socio-economic disadvantage, as well as describing a range of activities that we have put in place to mitigate negative impacts or promote positive impacts and advance equality or good relations. Consideration of the COVID restrictions on care homes is included within the document in particular the restrictions on visiting.

Scottish Government is not party to the contractual arrangements that form the basis of the National Care Home Contract. The National Care Home Contract is negotiated by, and entered into, by Local Authorities and Care Providers for the purpose of securing Services in the Providers' Care Homes.

The contract includes provisions which require providers to comply with Section 145 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 which requires that a Care Home, supplying care through arrangements made with a local authority under sections 12 or 13A of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, is taken to be exercising a function of a public nature and therefore required to act compatibly with the European Convention of Human Rights and Public Sector Equality Duties.