National Care Service

The Scottish Government is improving community health and social care support in Scotland.

Vision for the National Care Service

We want everyone to have access to consistently high-quality social care support across Scotland, whenever they might need it.

Watch a short video about what improvements people would like to see.

We also want our social care workforce to flourish. Our goal is to future-proof the social care sector for generations to come - and for people coming into the profession.

That is why we’re introducing  the National Care Service (NCS). It is being shaped by people who have experience of accessing and delivering social care support.

Watch a video about our vision for the National Care Service.

National Care Service forums

People and local communities are at the heart of our planning for a new National Care Service.

We’ve been hosting a series of in-person and online forums and events as part of the development of the National Care Service.

National Care Service National Forum 2023

On 30 October 2023, we hosted our annual National Forum in Glasgow. 

We have published a report about the National Forum. 

You can read the transcripts of the speeches from the forum here. 

You can also find the videos of the speeches on YouTube:

  • Donna Bell, Director of Social Care and National Care Service Development
  • Lucy Challoner, unpaid young carer and new social worker
  • Elena Whitham, Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy

National Care Service regional forums 2023

During the summer of 2023, we held a series of regional events across different communities in Scotland. These were part of our work to design the new National Care Service with those who receive or deliver social care, social work and community healthcare support.

We have published six reports from the National Care Service summer 2023 forums, summarising what we heard from people and what we will do next.

We have also published reports from the extra forums we held later in 2023. 

Co-designing with the people of Scotland

Co-design means working together to understand, explore, and agree how the National Care Service should work.

As we continue to co-design the National Care Service, we’re committed to listening to the voices of experts. 

These are people with experience of social care services, including:

  • people who access social care support
  • their family and support network
  • unpaid carers
  • the workforce
  • organisations and people who deliver social care support    
  • third sector organisations
  • people who have received or been involved in delivering social care support in the past

Find out more about the National Care Service: Co-design Paper.

There are also other easy read documents, which explain some of the key concepts around the National Care Service and how it will work.

Get involved in co-designing the National Care Service

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