Scots face postcode lottery of care

Scottish Labour has claimed that their investigation into social care service costs in Scotland has emphasised the wide variations in the charges imposed on Scots.

This has led to claims that there is an unfair postcode lottery for elderly and vulnerable people using care services in Scotland.

Among the findings it was shown that, although free for people living in places like East Dunbartonshire, the same elderly day care would cost older people living in Dundee £34.70 per day.

Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie MSP has attacked the ruling SNP, blaming them for the variation in the costs of services.

She said: “Increasingly Scots are facing a postcode lottery of care. It simply is unacceptable that if you live in Falkirk you could be paying substantially more for the same sort of care than if you live in Fife.

“Many of these charges are going up because councils are facing the brunt of the SNP’s cuts. The SNP need to stop dithering. They need to stop the spin and live up to the expectations Scots have. As our population continues to age, we need a proper solution about how we ensure adequate care for our older community.”

For adult day care services the story is similar. Service users in Argyll and Bute can expect to pay £14.60 an hour whereas Scottish Labour claims that there are identical places which are free for residents in areas such as East Dunbartonshire.

Scottish Labour stated the research shows that community alarms also cost people living in the Highlands up to £5.50 per week as opposed to the service being free in North Lanarkshire.

"The SNP promised to sort this out four years ago. Their hollow words will be no comfort to Scots who are being squeezed as a result of social care not being properly funded."

As well as the variation of charges, the majority of councils that responded to the investigation also described their need to increase the cost for the services since 2008.