£300m fund to help Scots NHS through 'challenging' winter

The Scottish government has announced a £300m funding package to help the health services get through the "extremely challenging" winter ahead.

The plan includes the hiring of extra support workers, cash for care at home services and a pay rise for care staff.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said it was "vital" to maximise the capacity of the NHS as winter approaches.

But opposition parties claimed the plans were a "sticking plaster" for a health service facing crisis.

And the GMB union said the pay rise for social care staff did not go far enough, calling for a "substantial" increase in the basic rate of pay to £15 per hour.

Scotland's health services are already under severe pressure in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with demand "extremely high" and the NHS on an emergency footing.

Mr Yousaf warned MSPs that the NHS was "under more pressure than it has been at any point in the pandemic", adding that "quite frankly it is likely to get worse" in the coming months.

The minister announced a multi-year funding package worth more than £300m for hospital and community care services, which includes the recruitment of 1,000 additional support staff in the NHS.

It also includes £40m for "step down" care, which enables hospital patients to temporarily move into care homes or get extra help at home, and £60m to maximise the capacity of care at home services.

Social care workers will be given a pay rise to a minimum of £10.02 per hour, while £4m will be invested in "staff wellbeing" - with a focus on the physical and emotional needs of workers.

Mr Yousaf said the measures would help reduce delays in patient discharge from hospitals and reduce pressure on unpaid carers.

He said: "This significant new investment will help get people the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. Bolstering the caring workforce by increasing their numbers, providing them with additional support, and increasing the wages of social care staff.

"Our NHS, social care staff and social work staff have been remarkable throughout the pandemic and today's additional investment will help support them to deliver care to people across Scotland this winter."

The GMB union said the promised pay rise "isn't nearly enough" to tackle an "understaffing crisis in social care".

Calling for a £15 per hour minimum, GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said: "To transform social care for the people who need it and the people who deliver it, particularly as we roll-out a national care service, then we must go further."

At Holyrood, opposition parties welcomed the extra funding but also said ministers must go further.

Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman Sue Webber said there was a "growing crisis" in the NHS even before the winter, with long waiting times at A&E departments and queues at vaccination clinics.

"While I really welcome the £300m outlined today in investment in our NHS and comments around investing in our workforce, we continue to need to see urgent action now."

Meanwhile Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the plan "feels like a sticking plaster for a much more profound problem".

She said supermarket checkout workers were paid more than social care staff, adding: "You will not retain or recruit staff if you continue to pay the low wages."