Labour respond to social care contingencies

South Lanarkshire Labour have warned of ‘serious ramifications’ if contingency measures in South Lanarkshire’s social care system last any longer than necessary. 

The spread of the Omicron variant and absences within the care workforce forced South Lanarkshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership to put in place contingency measures in social care and stop taking new admissions for a fixed period from Hogmanay onwards. Last year NHS Lanarkshire declared a ‘code black’ and delayed discharge figures have been rising across Scotland. The emergency measures are subject to review.

To make the social care system more resilient, Labour have called for national action to ensure frontline care workers are better paid and better protected.  

Councillor Allan Falconer, Social Work Spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Labour Group, said: “There is not just a crisis in the NHS this winter, there is a crisis across the entire health and social care system. More and more frontline staff are having to self-isolate as Omicron spreads and it is becoming harder to maintain people’s services. 

“South Lanarkshire paused new admissions to home care on Hogmanay and a call has gone out for volunteers and mutual aid. The impact of delayed discharges and any breakdown in social care could have serious ramifications if these contingencies last any longer than necessary. We have to return services to normal as soon as possible. 

“The care workforce must be the top political priority in Scotland right now. The Scottish Government promised to make key workers a priority for testing and they have to deliver. Labour are also calling on the Scottish and UK governments to work together to secure testing capacity for the country as a whole. 

“When we emerge from the crisis, we have to fundamentally rethink how our country values frontline care workers and the essential work they do. Our frontline carers must be better paid, better protected and better valued by society as a whole.”