MSP for Central Scotland, Graham Simpson has criticised plans by the SNP for a National Care Service after new statistics revealed the reduction in local authority run care homes in Lanarkshire.
The statistics from Public Health Scotland show that since 2012, the number of local authority care homes across Scotland have dropped by a third, from 203 in 2012 to just 138 now.
In North Lanarkshire the number of care homes in 2012 stood at 4, but by this year that had fallen to just 1, a 75% reduction.
In South Lanarkshire there were 8 local authority care homes in 2012. This has fallen by 25% to 6.
Mr Simpson says that social care services in Lanarkshire are in crisis on the SNP’s watch and that has had a knock-on effect of more delayed discharge in hospitals across the region.
He added that the SNP’s plans for a centralised national care service will only take further resources away from both Lanarkshire councils and put at risk vulnerable people’s ability to access care packages.
Central Scotland MSP, Graham Simpson said: “Care services in Lanarkshire have been in crisis for far too long on the SNP’s watch and the situation is only getting worse.
“Given the SNP’s continued cuts to local authority budgets, perhaps the drop in the number of local authority care homes shouldn’t come as a surprise, but they are still completely unacceptable.
“Vulnerable patients need assurances that they will be able to access social care services in their own community, but that is increasingly being put at risk.
“In turn that leads to increase delayed discharge among patients in hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire as care packages simply aren’t available.
“These figures highlight once again how misguided the SNP’s plans for a centralised care service are.
“A national care service will only take more resources away and leave hard working staff even more overstretched.
“The SNP must drop these plans and focus on ensuring that social care services in North and South Lanarkshire have all the resources they need right now.”
