03 August 2001
Joe Campbell, chairman of Scottish Care, told Public Finance: 'We don't believe that local authorities have any credibility in community care and we will call for their removal from this area if the current crisis continues.
'They don't seem to be able to comprehend or recognise the awful problem facing the industry', he added.
Scottish Care balked at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' July 24 offer of a new nursing home fee baseline rate of £346 per patient per week, claiming that it equated to a £10 rise. The care home representative body had been demanding a £50 increase.
Campbell said he would be contacting First Minister Henry McLeish to ask for his personal intervention: 'The independent sector – that is so necessary for his dreams of the NHS – is going out of business. I'm not crying wolf. We're not a wee corner shop which can run down its stock and still survive. We've got to keep making money as we've got to keep constantly upgrading the service.'
Scottish Care is meeting with representatives from Cosla and the Scottish Executive on August 15 in a last-ditch attempt to find a solution.
Campbell was pessimistic over the outcome of the talks, predicting that independent care workers across Scotland would take their lead from homes in Aberdeen and Lanarkshire and refuse to accept patients referred by councils.
'We've been warning this could happen for eight and a half years. It would be irresponsible for us to take in old folk that we can't care for,' he said.
Cosla insisted its offer had been made only after protracted negotiations with the Scottish Executive yielded an extra £17.5m funding.
Rita Miller, Cosla's social work spokeswoman, said: 'This undignified wrangle over money has achieved nothing towards the service we and our partner organisations seek to provide.
'It is vital that Scottish Care recognises that council – and government – resources are finite.'
PFaug2001
