National care body hits out at North Ayrshire health chiefs over contract switch

A furious national care company has lambasted North Ayrshire health chiefs for their controversial decision to take all home care support in-house and end the contracts of other providers from June.And they say fewer people will be helped.Scottish Care is the representative body of care at home providers, who are charitable, not for profit, private and employee owned.

Their members deliver most of the care and support for adults and older adults across Scotland.They said in a statement: “As an organisation we very rarely make public comment on local actions, but we find ourselves unable to remain silent about what is happening in North Ayrshire.“In a recent statement North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (NAHSCP) has stated that they have decided to take all homecare support ‘in house’ and to end the contracts of existing non-Council providers from June 2024.“Scottish Care is concerned that actions of the NAHSCP endangers the care and support of those who are at the moment receiving services in the North Ayrshire area and which in the future will limit the legal rights and choices of residents in the area.”The NAHSCP, they claim, have not published the costs of in-house services and argue it would cost more than double the cost of outsourced care and support.The HSCP, say Scottish Care, have reassured people that although they had the right to stay with current providers they had no confidence about how independent the advice they were given would be.Every person, they say, who requires social care and support, anywhere in Scotland, has the right to choose a provider, but in the future residents of North Ayrshire would be denied this legal right.They said they need assurance from the HSCP that they would