Audit Scotland NHS Report a necessary “Wake Up Call”

Reform of health and social care in Scotland must speed up, says the national charity for older people, Age Scotland following the publication of a report by Audit Scotland into the NHS.

The “NHS in Scotland 2019” report on the health and social care system was published today by the Auditor General for Scotland and highlighted that the pace of integration is “too slow”.

Age Scotland say that the report will be a necessary “wake up call” to those running health and social care.

Age Scotland’s chief executive Brian Sloan said:

“There is much to unpick from this report but notably it highlights that the pace of health and social care integration has been too slow. As a result, the Scottish Government’s 2020 Vision to provide more care closer to home and reduce demand for acute hospital services, which is so vital to delivering better care for older people, is unlikely to be achieved.

“It is great that the Scottish Government have invested more money into social care, but there are concerns that the impact is yet to be felt.

“We know that social care has significant workforce and financial challenges and it is under immense pressure to meet the growing demand to keep older people in Scotland safe and well. As Age Scotland’s recent ‘Waiting for Care’ report uncovered, 43% of people assessed as needing critical or substantial social care wait longer than the 6 week guidelines to receive it. That must change.

“It is also apparent that new Integrated Authorities haven’t yet been fulfilling their intended purpose of shifting the necessary spending to community and social care, which could help to alleviate the sky-high levels of delayed discharge in hospitals, up 9% last year, if there was more readily available care at home.

“This report will no doubt be a wake up call to those running health and social care in Scotland that the necessary wide scale reform and integration needs to get moving.”