9 June 2026

Social care cannot run on goodwill alone

Our 2026 Workforce Priorities report sets out why action on pay, progression and investment can’t wait, writes CCPS’s Policy Manager Alison Christie

Scotland’s social care workforce makes an extraordinary contribution, but it cannot keep being asked to do more with less.

Published this week, CCPS’s Workforce Priorities 2026 report draws on the experiences of our members across adult and children’s services and sends a clear message: if ministers want a resilient, sustainable social care system, they need to invest in the people who deliver it.

This is a workforce that builds relationships, supports people to live full lives, and strengthens families, communities and the economy. Yet too often, that contribution is praised in principle while undervalued in practice.

The warning from members is stark. As one put it: “We can’t expect goodwill to carry people forever.”

A workforce under pressure

The pressure on the workforce is no longer a warning sign. It is a daily reality. Recruitment and retention remain major challenges, with low pay continuing to drive turnover and deepen instability across services.

The pay gap tells its own story. In 2019, the difference between not-for-profit social care workers and their NHS counterparts stood at £2,400. By April 2025, it had widened to £3,770. That is not sustainable for a sector expected to recruit, retain and reward skilled staff.

At the same time, changes to UK visa rules have led to an 88% drop in Health and Care Worker visas for caring roles, squeezing an already stretched labour market even further.

The case for investment

The answer is not complicated. If Scotland is serious about reform, it has to be serious about investment. Underfunding remains the single biggest barrier to building the workforce social care needs.

That means matching warm words about the value of social care with real action on pay and conditions. These are skilled, regulated roles that demand judgement, responsibility and continual learning. Funding decisions need to reflect that reality.

It also means creating careers people can stay in. Flat structures and weak pay progression in senior roles are hindering retention and making it harder to build a stable, experienced workforce for the future.

As the report puts it: “Social care must be understood for its significant and tangible contribution to individual, family, community and economic wellbeing. Investing in social care and its staff is an investment in people.”

“CCPS and its members stand ready to work collaboratively with partners across the system to develop workforce policies that deliver parity of esteem, pay, and conditions between third sector providers and public sector employers.”

Learning, leadership and the long term

The same applies to learning and development. Training, qualifications and continuous professional learning should help people grow and stay in the sector. Too often, they are still shaped by fragmented systems, outdated thresholds and unnecessary bureaucracy.

CCPS members called for qualification frameworks that better reflect real-world practice and properly funded education pathways.

For those working with children and young people, the message is just as urgent. The ambitions of The Promise will not be met without long-term investment in the workforce expected to deliver it.

Members also called for improvements to leadership development, saying that there is currently too much emphasis on management compliance. Instead, we need leadership that is relational, values-driven and capable of building strong workplace cultures.

And while digital change matters, social care will always depend on human connection. Change and improvement cannot be built around systems alone. It has to be built around people.

A shared starting point

The challenge now is clear. Scotland cannot keep relying on the dedication of a workforce that is too often underpaid, undervalued and stretched beyond what is sustainable.

CCPS and its members stand ready to work collaboratively with partners across the system to develop workforce policies that deliver parity of esteem, pay, and conditions between third sector providers and public sector employers.

A central part of this approach is introducing sectoral bargaining in the voluntary social care sector. This must be done with the Scottish Government, third sector employers, and trade unions having an equal voice at the negotiating table.

If social care is truly valued, that value must be reflected in funding, pay, career progression, and long-term workforce planning.

Read our Workforce Priorities 2026 report

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2 June 2026

Member Spotlight: Vote for Better Accessibility for Visually Impaired People

In the aftermath of last month’s Scottish election, Nicoletta Primo, Lived Experience Policy and Engagement Manager at Sight Scotland & Sight Scotland Veterans, explains why making voting more accessible for visually impaired people is vital

Nicoletta Primo, Lived Experience Policy and Engagement Manager at Sight Scotland. Nicoletta is smiling and has long brown hair.

Voting is one of the most important ways people can have their say in society. It gives us a voice in decisions that affect our lives, our communities, and our future. But for many visually impaired people, voting is not always as simple or as accessible as it should be. 

Unfortunately, these challenges are not limited to election day. They reflect the everyday obstacles faced when accessing information, navigating public spaces and taking part fully in society. Accessibility should not be treated as a problem to fix at the last minute or an optional extra to consider later. Instead, it must be built in from the start and prioritised across all areas of life so that everyone can participate with dignity, independence and equal opportunity. 

Vote for improvements 

Visually impaired voters continue to face a number of challenges when attending polling stations. A key issue is that staff may not always feel fully confident in how to support voters who are visually impaired. This can lead to confusion about what help is available and inconsistent use of accessible voting tools and assistive equipment. Physical barriers also play a part, including poor lighting, unclear signage and layouts that can be difficult to navigate. Information about candidates and the voting process has not always been provided in formats that are easy to access, making it harder for people to make informed choices about who they wish to represent them. 

For many people, there is also a concern about losing their independence. Some are reluctant to ask for help if it means someone else may see how they vote. This can leave people feeling excluded from a process that should be open to everyone. 

“Inclusion and accessibility are not about doing something extra for disabled people. They are about removing unnecessary barriers so that everyone can take part in everyday life.” 

Ahead of the recent Scottish Parliament election, Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans partnered with the Electoral Management Board for Scotland to deliver training to Returning Officers and more than 900 polling staff. This training focused on helping staff understand the needs of visually impaired voters and the support they are required to provide. 

The training was shaped by people with lived experience of visual impairment, alongside professional expertise from rehabilitation staff. This meant the training focused on the things people actually experience and gave clear, useful ways to support. It aims to improve staff confidence and make voting more consistent and accessible for visually impaired people. 

Accessible voting is part of a much bigger picture. In our 2026 manifesto, Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans set out what needs to change to improve the lives of people with visual impairments across Scotland. Eye health services are under increasing pressure, with long waiting times for treatment. There is an urgent need for investment, including a commitment to build a new Eye Hospital in Edinburgh. 

We also want to work alongside the new Scottish Government for better access to vision rehabilitation, stronger community eye care, and more consistent support for both children and veterans with visual impairment. 

Vote for change 

There has also been real progress, showing what can be achieved when accessibility is prioritised. Following our Fair Rail campaign, anyone with an Eye +1 National Entitlement Card (NEC) can now travel free by train across Scotland with a companion, at no extra cost. This life changing step came after more than three years of campaigning by Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, driven by the voices of service users who highlighted how unfair and inconsistent rail travel had become. Many were forced to pay extra for essential support, making journeys unaffordable, while travelling alone could be unsafe. 

We are delighted to see this change become permanent following a successful pilot that received overwhelmingly positive feedback from more than 1,500 visually impaired card holders. Inclusion and accessibility are not about doing something extra for disabled people. They are about removing unnecessary barriers so that everyone can take part in everyday life. 

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27 May 2026

What does Scotland’s social care sector need from the new parliament?

Rachel Cackett on what John Swinney should prioritise for the sector as the 2026-31 Holyrood session begins

A sign in front of the Scottish Parliament building with 'Scottish Parliament' written in English and Gaelic

This article was originally published by TFN on May 22, 2026. 

It’s been just over two weeks since Scotland went to the ballot box, our MSPs have all been sworn in, and members of the new government are settling into their positions.

With nearly half of this cohort of MSPs being new to parliament, and a significant reshuffle of cabinet and ministerial briefs and positions having taken place, I’m sure it will take some time for everyone to settle in and learn the ropes of their new jobs. However, MSPs of all parties must also now look ahead at what the priorities should be for this session of parliament. And for Scotland’s social care sector, there’s no time to lose.

My organisation, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland, has written to the 129 MSPs who make up this parliament to help them understand the vital role of not-for-profit social care and support and why it urgently requires change and investment. The change we seek needs cross-party leadership – both because of the parliamentary arithmetic now, and because we need change that lasts beyond this parliamentary term.

We have also been in touch with members of the new government to say that we are ready to work alongside them to build a strong and sustainable social care system for all who need it. We made it clear that while challenges exist for the government, so too do solutions. Meaningful change is possible, and the first steps we need to take are clear.

Firstly, social care must be funded like it matters, as proper investment is the foundation on which a secure and sustainable social care sector can be built. For too long, social care providers have felt the strain of underfunding, which has been compounded by increasing demand for services and rising delivery costs.

Social care transforms lives, boosts the economy, and eases pressures on other public services, including the NHS. Yet decades of underinvestment have put the sector’s viability at risk. Surveys carried out among our membership at the end of last year showed providers being forced to reduce staff numbers, scale back services, and rely on reserves to reach financial balance.

We need to see allocations of funds that reflect the true cost of delivering good support. This would help stabilise the sector and support providers’ long-term planning, helping them deliver preventative support, and easing pressures on other public services – saving the government money in the long run.

We also need urgent action on fair work and pay to recognise our qualified, highly skilled and professionally regulated staff, who provide complex and specialised support in communities across Scotland every day.

Currently, the basic rate of not-for-profit social care pay is in the hands of the Scottish Government, and it does not align with social care workers’ vital contribution to our society.  Fair terms and conditions would help make social care a sustainable career choice, meaning the sector is not losing talented and skilled staff and can attract new people to the sector. This is critical to sustain services.

That brings me to another ask of the new parliament and government: social care providers must have a seat at the table in discussions around improving and reforming the sector.

When it comes to fair work, a clear path to finally lever this would be through sectoral bargaining – an endeavour we have been working to design with provider, union and government partners for some time. Shortly before the last parliament was dissolved, the government announced its intention to create a new voluntary social care bargaining forum to help improve pay and conditions for workers. We remain committed to working in partnership to ensure that this is designed and implemented in a way that delivers tangible benefits for the workforce, providers, and the people they support.

But engaging with providers goes beyond these kinds of formal negotiations. It also means listening to and working with social care providers, their staff and the people they support in all decisions being made about the sector. Change cannot be made on our behalf without engaging with us as equal system partners.

In his speech at Holyrood on Wednesday, the first minister emphasised that he wanted to find common ground and “work across party lines”, with a commitment to bring people together “to build a country where everyone feels accepted and is able to contribute”.

We support this vision absolutely.  And for Scottish citizens in need of support to flourish, a vibrant, sustainable and accessible social care and support sector is critical to its delivery.

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13 January 2026

The government doesn’t have a monopoly on tough choices – though it can make those made by people across Scotland a lot easier

Ahead of today’s Scottish Budget announcement, CCPS CEO Rachel Cackett calls for investment in care and support to ease the ‘tough choices’ being made every day across Scotland.

I’ve been watching the pitch rolling on the Scottish Budget over recent days. Tough choices? Absolutely. But I have been disappointed to see social care not even get a mention.  

As the political noise increases today, we must remember that the government doesn’t have a monopoly on tough choices – though it has the power to make the tough choices made every day by people across Scotland a lot easier.  

For ordinary people, tough choices are getting tougher. This is what they look like: a family wondering how to get a parent out of hospital to avoid them getting frailer when no social care is available in the community.  

A person with a disability wondering which bit of basic dignity in life they should give up because their social care services are being cut.  

A family facing homelessness in hard times wondering how to get support and a safe home to look after their children when none is available.  

A person struggling with their mental health wondering how to cope when the threat of loss of support hangs over them every day.  

A support worker (most likely a low-paid woman) having to face the potential loss of income because the service they work in is being scaled back.  

This is the human face of tough choices when too little national prioritisation is given to investment in care and support. This support happens behind closed doors – support which underpins the very fabric of our society. It is done quietly, with dignity (and rightly so).  

But that means we need our politicians, more than ever, to speak up and make a noise so people get the support that any one of us might need tomorrow.  

“2026 can and must be the year where we make a rights-based, sustainable system of social care and support a reality in Scotland.”

I hope the absence of advance social care messaging is not an indicator of the tough choices this government is choosing to announce this afternoon. But if it is, things are about to get a whole lot tougher for the 1 in 23 people who need care and support, their families, and the paid staff in our sector.  

The Scottish Government has an opportunity this afternoon to signal a real step change in its approach to funding our sector. 2026 can and must be the year where we make a rights-based, sustainable system of social care and support a reality in Scotland. But for this vision to be realised, we need the right investment in the budget.   

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16 December 2025

Member Spotlight: “We have a voice, and we can and must use it to influence change”

In this video, CrossReach CEO Viv Dickenson talks about the organisation’s wide range of services, and the importance of speaking up for those in need of support.

CrossReach delivers care and support across Scotland. Through specialist teams in Children and Families, Adult Care and Older people, they operate over 70 services as the social care arm of the Church of Scotland.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt Rev Rosie Frew recently spent time with CrossReach, visiting a number of services. The short film series ‘Love from CrossReach’ captures these visits. The series explores the motivation behind work of CrossReach, meets staff who work for the organisation, and introduces some people who receive support.

In this latest episode, ‘It’s Complicated’, the challenges within the social care system are explored. Hear from Viv Dickenson, CEO of CrossReach, about the importance of working together with other social care providers, so that we can ensure those in government are well informed about the challenges being faced in Scotland today.

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19 November 2025

Member Spotlight: Phoenix Futures on the ‘Restorative Power of the Outdoors’

In our latest Member Spotlight, Rachel Hudson, Living Skills Worker at Phoenix Future’s Recovery Housing Service in Glasgow, explores the role of nature in recovery from drugs and alcohol.

Image of author Rachel Hudson. Rachel has long dark hair and is wearing all black. She is standing looking at the camera and smiling.
Image of author Rachel Hudson. Rachel has long dark hair and is wearing all black. She is standing looking at the camera and smiling.

Rachel Hudson, Living Skills Worker at Phoenix Future’s Recovery Housing Service in Glasgow

At Phoenix Futures Scotland, we believe recovery from drugs and alcohol is not only possible, but also transformative. Our mission is to help people reach their full potential, for themselves, their families, and their communities. At the centre of this vision lies our Recovery through Nature (RtN) project, a programme that harnesses the restorative power of the outdoors to support people on their recovery journey.

A pathway to healing

Recovery through Nature is more than a therapeutic programme, it is a pathway to renewal. Participants take part in practical conservation and horticultural projects, finding new purpose in activities that connect them to the natural world. At Phoenix Futures Scotland, RtN is a core part of the programmes we deliver in our residential, housing and community services.

Research shows that time outdoors improves mental health, physical health and recovery outcomes. Getting active on a regular basis helps boost fitness, strength, and energy levels. People who got involved in RtN in our services saw an additional 17% improvement in their physical health compared to those who did not take part.

Being outdoors and moving around can also help the body heal from damage caused by substance use. Plus, sunlight supports better sleep and increases Vitamin D, which can lift your mood, and that can really help with recovery. For alcohol use, there was a 23% improvement in outcomes for those who took part in RtN compared to those who did not. We also see that people who take part in Recovery through Nature are nearly twice as likely to finish their recovery programme.

“Recovery through Nature is more than a therapeutic programme, it is a pathway to renewal.”

In nature, people discover space to slow down, reflect, and restore balance. This is especially vital during early recovery when stress levels are high. The secret to RtN’s success is simple: creating safe, enjoyable environments where learning and growth can flourish.

Trees being planted at Phoenix Forest at Glenlude

Phoenix Forest at Glenlude

Rediscovering joy

I am a Living Skills Worker in our Recovery Housing service in Glasgow. From canal banks to hilltops, we have embraced RtN as a way to reconnect with the world around us. We run Recovery through Nature as part of the programme we deliver and each activity offers a fresh perspective, reminding our residents that recovery is not just about overcoming challenges, it is about rediscovering joy.

Earlier this year, we partnered with North-West Recovery Community to deliver a 12-week programme at Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve. Together with local organisations, we offered sessions ranging from forest meditation and fire ceremonies to water sports. The diversity of experiences helped participants see nature not just as scenery, but as an active partner in their recovery.

One participant reflected: “I love the outdoors, but due to my addiction I had been unable to see it. Recovery through Nature has helped me get back out, and I’m able to see and appreciate it again.”

A group of people in a forest digging and looking at the earth

Phoenix Future’s Recovery through Nature project

Sharing stories and growing together

Our collaboration with the University of Stirling brought Recovery through Nature to a wider audience through the Green Threads documentary. This project highlighted the profound impact of nature on wellbeing, giving our participants a platform to share their voices and experiences.

At the Concrete Gardens allotment in Glasgow, our residents have embraced our ‘seed to table’ ethos and have learnt to grow, harvest, and cook their own food. This not only provides fresh, healthy meals for our residential service but also teaches valuable life skills. Growing food together shows that recovery, like gardening, requires patience, nurture, and time.

Our work at the Calman Centre at Gartnavel Hospital, alongside the Beatson treatment facility, has been especially meaningful. Our residents have helped develop gardens that support people in recovery, with one sharing: “It feels so good to get out into the community and be able to give something back.”

Celebrating recovery through nature

This year, we are proud to have been shortlisted in the 2025 Nature of Scotland Awards in the Health and Wellbeing category, alongside our wonderful partners at the John Muir Trust. For the past 13 years, participants in our RtN project have been planting trees and growing the Phoenix Forest at Glenlude to celebrate everyone who has successfully passed through one of our programmes.

“The diversity of experiences helped participants see nature not just as scenery, but as an active partner in their recovery.”

Building partnerships, building futures

Partnerships are at the heart of Recovery through Nature. By collaborating with local organisations, we enrich recovery journeys and create lasting connections within communities. These partnerships ensure that participants not only benefit during their time with Phoenix Futures but continue to engage with supportive networks long after.

Whether it is planting a seed, climbing a hill, or simply spending time outdoors, every RtN experience helps people rediscover belonging. As we continue to build partnerships across Scotland, we remain committed to creating spaces where recovery can take root and flourish.

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28 October 2025

Urgent action on pay key to reforming social care

With a report published today on the impact of the Adult Social Care (ASC) Worker Uplift Policy, Rachel Cackett explains why it’s time for the Scottish Government to change course

We are standing at a pivotal moment for social care in Scotland. In recent years, policy decisions from austerity to Brexit, combined with external shocks including Covid-19, have placed immense pressure on our sector, and we now find ourselves at a tipping point. With the Scottish Government’s spending review and Budget approaching, the time for action is now.

There are clear paths to navigate our way out of this crisis, but for these to be realised, we need the government to show us it recognises the immense and wide-ranging benefits our sector brings to our society and our economy. A key part of this will be investing in the qualified, highly skilled and professionally regulated workforce who provide life-changing support in our communities every day – and whose pay is in the hands of the Scottish Government.

We need fair pay because our staff – who provide highly skilled support to disabled people, older people, people with learning disabilities, children, families and many others – deserve their invaluable contributions to be recognised. We also need fair pay because it makes social care a sustainable career choice, supporting the viability of our sector, and helping us better weather any future storms.

We know that the government has made public commitments to Fair Work. Its Adult Social Care (ASC) Worker Uplift Policy initially promised a real commitment to fair pay for social care professionals. But despite its good intentions, the policy has not kept pace with a shifting economic landscape and has also faced several unforeseen challenges in its implementation. We think the policy is no longer fit for purpose, and staff and the wider sector are feeling the strain.

That’s why my organisation, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS), is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently review this policy and revise its approach to social care pay immediately, before swiftly introducing sector-wide bargaining on pay. After conducting research on our members’ experience of this policy in action, we have today published a report on our findings, The Impact of the Scottish Government’s Adult Social Care Worker Uplift Policy. Click here to read the report.

Our message is clear: despite its best intentions, this policy is not working on the ground, and social care staff and the wider sector deserve better. We need the government to listen to our members and take urgent action to fulfil its promise of fair work and pay without delay.

Social care and support staff provide the scaffolding needed to help people live independent and fulfilled lives. They also provide preventative support which reduces costs for other public services, including the NHS – so by investing more in social care now, the Scottish Government cuts costs now and in the long run.

Despite this, pay policy is far from where it needs to be. The government’s policy has, since 2016, been to ensure that all ASC workers delivering direct care in commissioned services are paid at least the Real Living Wage. But this figure (currently £12.60/hour) is nowhere near enough to mitigate the staffing challenges our sector faces. ALDI pays its staff a minimum of £13/hour. On top of this, without funding to maintain proper pay differentials between staff of different grades – which our research shows is often not possible – social care will not be an attractive long-term career choice.

We welcome the government’s commitment to sectoral bargaining as its approach to social care pay and have been working collaboratively with them, alongside employers and trade unions. But this is simply taking too long; we need action now.

Investing in our people and making our sector better able to attract and retain staff will be hugely impactful when it comes to building strong, secure foundations for the rights-based, sustainable system of social care and support our country needs. And there is no time to lose. We know the Scottish Government has the appetite for reforming social care, and we as a sector are ready and willing to support them in realising their vision for fair work and pay.

We need tangible action now – for our staff, mostly women, doing invaluable work; for the one in 25 people who need social care each year in Scotland, as well as their friends, families and communities; and for the other public services such as the NHS whose work we support. The upcoming spending review and Budget offer a prime opportunity for action.

The government must urgently work with us to review its approach to social care pay – as part of the response to the viability of our sector. This will ensure our staff are paid fairly for the vital work they do and that providers can fully fund their workforce costs.  The future of our sector, and the government’s ambitions for reform, depends on it.

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24 October 2025

“It’s the start of a culture shift in how Scotland supports mental health”

Member Spotlight: Ewan Hay, Service Manager at The Nook from SAMH in Glasgow, shares how the project aims to break down barriers to accessing mental health support.

The Nook is the most ambitious project in SAMH’s 102-year history. Beyond that, it is the largest mental health charity initiative in Scottish history. It’s a groundbreaking £10 million plan that aims to revolutionise access to support for tens of thousands of people.

The Nook in Glasgow, where I am manager, is the first in a national network of walk-in mental health support hubs, enabling anyone in Scotland to ask once and get help fast.

We know that Scotland is in a mental health crisis, with demand increasing, waitlists growing and services stretched to breaking point. The Nook is our response. It provides barrier-free access to mental health support, with no need to book an appointment or get a referral, in a safe, welcoming, stigma-free space.

It will also help to relieve pressure on the NHS by supporting people that may be on a long waitlist, delivering preventative care and early interventions. Before this role, I worked as a paramedic and project coordinator. I saw firsthand how delays and long waitlists for mental health support can have a significant impact on people’s wellbeing. When I heard about The Nook and SAMH’s commitment to offering support with no need for a referral or waitlist, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of.

What makes this role unique for me is the combination of professional and personal purpose. As a paramedic, I was often the first person to meet someone in crisis, but I rarely got to see what happened after that first call. Here, I get to be part of the ongoing support, seeing people move from that first ask for help to recovery, sometimes just through a single meaningful conversation.

Help at The Nook ranges from one-to-one support and group sessions to talking therapies. We will also roll out an extensive outreach programme, helping many thousands more based in surrounding areas.

But the real innovation isn’t just in what we offer, it’s how we offer it. The Nook is about human connection first and foremost. We meet people as they are, not as a referral or diagnosis. I believe that’s crucial: when you remove barriers, when you make it easy to ask for help, people actually do. That’s where real prevention begins.

A photograph of the interior of the Nook in Glasgow, showing a cosy seating area with a window seat and a red armchair next to a small table.Our expertise is non-clinical mental health support, so the space has been deliberately designed to be welcoming, accessible and inviting. I’m fortunate that in addition to my team of practitioners, I also have the support of trained volunteers to welcome anyone who walks through our doors.

As a team, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to make The Nook feel different, less like a service, and more like a community. Everyone who comes through the door is treated as an equal. There’s no stigma, no judgement, and no time limits on being heard. My hope is that this approach helps people reconnect with the idea that support can be simple, human and immediate.

The Nook in Glasgow opened its doors this month, with Aberdeen to follow next year and plans for Edinburgh, Inverclyde and Lanarkshire already in the works.

For me, this is more than just the start of a project, it’s the start of a culture shift in how Scotland supports mental health. If The Nook proves anything, I hope it’s that we can build systems that put compassion and accessibility at the heart of everything.

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24 September 2025

Member Spotlight: “We have the expertise, imagination and passion and we are going to put it to work”

Mark Bevan, Chief Executive of national respite charity Leuchie House, on rethinking its response to future need – and its aim to grow impact tenfold by the end of the decade

The typical age of diagnosis of a long-term neurological condition, for those Leuchie serves, is in the late 40s / early 50s. It’s a time when most of us are mortgaged to the hilt, working as hard as we ever have done and if we have children, they need all of our support through their difficult teenage years.

It’s against this backdrop that a diagnosis occurs, often after a long process. Very soon, many will no longer be able to walk, work will become impossible and with the loss of employment comes the loss of income, friends and the opportunity to support a family.

A healthy, independent and fulfilled future can seem impossible to imagine and trying to get support from our overwhelmed health and social care service is a daily battle. A visiting GP said last week that it takes on average two years for a specialist neurological appointment.

Help with care at home is getting even harder to find. This means that ever more physical and emotional responsibility for health and care delivery falls to immediate family, who themselves can become overwhelmed, exhausted and isolated.

This is not only a challenge today for a few vital individuals. With an ageing population and reducing workforce in Scotland there will come a point, within all of our lifetimes, when there is an insufficient care workforce to meet the needs of the significant many. Some would say we have reached the tipping point already.

This is being experienced today by many who need health and social care now. It’s a concern we are beginning to address at Leuchie, with those who come to have a break with us who have a condition such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Motor Neurone Disease and some aspects of stroke.

For nearly 15 years the Leuchie House team has been developing award-winning and Grade 5/6 quality health care and support services in the face of growing demand, a challenging labour market and ever tighter fiscal constraints.

With people coming to Leuchie House from all over Scotland and further afield and with bookings running a year or more ahead, we face a challenge: how do we do more of what we do well?

Our first response was to fundamentally re-imagine respite. We had fallen into a trap of conflating our purpose, with how we go about delivering that purpose. The walls of our building had become a constraint on our thinking.

So, we took on a purpose-built holiday home with the highest levels of equipment and access standards. This enables families to have a break together. On the strength of this we worked with a manufacturer to produce a highly accessible caravan, which we now also run. These two facilities doubled the number of families we could support and broadened that support, beyond the walls of Leuchie House.

We began to look at the causes of stress in the lives of the people we support as a route into thinking and creating solutions around what people wanted respite from.

We identified health improvement, re-enablement through technology and re-connecting people to social and professional relationships as three priorities. Consequently, we invested in a highly sophisticated in-house team of allied health professionals including an in-house health care technology team. We now ensure that the impact of a break can last long beyond the break itself.

As we approach our 15th birthday in 2026, we will step up this way of thinking about future need and we will respond. Our intention is to grow our impact tenfold by the end of the decade, and to do so in four ways:

We will:

  • Provide physical, building based & specialist services where they don’t exist today.
  • Be present through technology in the homes of people who we don’t reach in physical resources.
  • Deploy and manage enabling technology to maximise independence within people’s homes.
  • Reach into the rich experience and expertise, developed over 15 years and in partnership with those we serve, their families, our NHS, universities, institutional grant makers and private sector investment to develop and deliver solutions through innovation and research.

Waiting for governments to answer the problems which we are driven to resolve is not an effective solution. We have the expertise, imagination and passion and we are going to put it to work…just like you do every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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29 August 2025

“Care and support must be guaranteed for all those with dementia”

Member Spotlight: Jim Pearson, Deputy Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, on the charity’s Stop the Cuts campaign and its work to build a national, consistent standard of care

At Alzheimer Scotland, it is our mission to make sure that nobody faces dementia alone.

Dementia is caused by disease processes such as Alzheimer’s disease and is a progressive and life limiting condition which, over time, affects every aspect of daily life.

A diagnosis of dementia is life-changing not only for the individual but for their family. It is Alzheimer Scotland’s view that every person diagnosed with dementia has the right to receive the proper care, treatment and support which responds to the changing, often complex, symptoms and needs as the illness progresses.

However, too often we hear from people living with dementia and those who care for them that they are left alone to deal with the changing and increased levels of need dementia brings, with often limited or no help.

While illnesses such as cancer, chest, heart and stroke all have clear pathways mapping out exactly how a person will be treated and cared for at every stage – dementia has no such pathway in place. There is often no offer of regular care reviews or annual check-ups with health professionals.

Right now, in some of the most extreme funding cuts ever seen, vital health and social care services supporting tens of thousands of people living with dementia, their families and carers are being forced to reduce the support they can offer, or in many cases close completely.

In a desperate bid to plug predicted budget gaps, Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) across Scotland are having to find millions of pounds of savings. Much of those savings are being planned by cutting funding from their older people and community care budgets, where the mainstay of community support and dementia-specific services can be found.

These cuts are both unacceptable and short sighted. They will inevitably lead to more people experiencing avoidable crises, increased levels of need, and growing demand on an already overstretched health care system through avoidable and more expensive hospital admissions.

Scotland is sleepwalking into a dementia care crisis.

It is these issues that inspired Alzheimer Scotland to launch a new national campaign to ‘Stop the Cuts’ to community dementia care funding. In a matter of weeks more than 12,000 people have signed our petition in support of the campaign.

We have also been inundated with messages of support and high levels of engagement on our social media posts, helped by support from our CCPS partners.

The campaign calls for the introduction of a guaranteed national pathway where evidence-based interventions are offered to everyone with a dementia diagnosis throughout the progression of their condition – every time, everywhere throughout Scotland.

It is estimated that around 90,000 people in Scotland are living with dementia, and this number is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. As the population ages, the demand for dementia services will inevitably increase, making it essential that we have robust systems in place to support those in need.

It is not right that dementia care is left to a postcode lottery.

We have written to all MSPs, MPs and council leaders across the country, as well as to ministers and local government body COSLA calling for urgent action.

As we look ahead to the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026, we will continue our campaign to stop the cuts, protect dementia services, and build a national, consistent standard of care that ends the postcode lottery for good.

To find out more about Stop the Cuts and to sign our petition visit https://www.alzscot.org/StopTheCuts/

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