Donald Macaskill

“The report is particularly significant in acknowledging that social care was too often treated as an afterthought rather than as an equal partner within our system of public protection.”

“Social care is critical national infrastructure. It sustains the lives, rights, wellbeing and dignity of hundreds of thousands of people and is an indispensable part of Scotland's social fabric.”

“We can't reform on the cheap. We have to address the real critical issues.”

“At a time when the sector continues to face significant workforce challenges, reducing barriers to recruitment and helping people enter and remain in care roles is to be welcomed.”

“At a time when the sector continues to face significant workforce challenges, reducing barriers to recruitment and helping people enter and remain in care roles is to be welcomed.”

“firms which offer social care workers less than £15 per hour "are simply not offering enough"”

“If you were to do calculation now, it would be closer to between 3,000 to 4,000.”

“These proposals speak directly to what those who draw on care, their families, and our skilled workforce have been telling us for years. If we want a sustainable, dignified and human rights‑based care sector in Scotland, we must invest in the people and communities who make care possible.”

“We're probably half a billion pounds short of where we need to be to deliver and to stand still in care and support.”

“Enshrining the right of care home residents to maintain meaningful connections with those who matter most is a vital human rights milestone.”

“Enshrining the right of care home residents to maintain meaningful connections with those who matter most is a vital human rights milestone.”

“In many parts of Scotland, on average, the waiting time for a financial assessment to be undertaken, which this time last year was between six and eight weeks, is now between 16 to 18 weeks.”

“This is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices. And it is time those choices changed.”

“We cannot have, and will not tolerate, blanket bans of the like we saw during the Covid pandemic. If there is a live outbreak in a care home there are obviously a degree of restrictions [needed] and we encourage individuals to accelerate use of PPE. But we don't want to get to a situation where masks are used routinely because that causes real difficulty with communication, particularly with a population who may be struggling with dementia and other conditions.”

“Scottish Care welcomes the launch of the Adult Social Care Displaced Worker Scheme and the vital support it offers to international staff who play an essential role in Scotland's social care sector.”

“Recent Home Office policy changes have once again intensified pressures on care providers and staff teams at a time when demand for services is high and organisations continue to face significant challenges in recruiting sufficient numbers of skilled workers.”

“Scottish Care welcomes the launch of the Adult Social Care Displaced Worker Scheme and the vital support it offers to international staff who play an essential role in Scotland's social care sector.”

“massively damaging”

“deeply concerned about the impact Labour's proposals will have, and that they will "deter much-needed talent from staying in Scotland"”

“Forcing dedicated care workers to wait up to 15 years for settlement, and tying their future to restrictive criteria, will deter much-needed talent from staying in Scotland”

“I have a culpability in the fact that the National Care Home Contract is failing. It has failed. It's not working, and it certainly doesn't work for rural and remote and island communities.”