Ministers urged to "shake up" care for older people in Scotland

It has been reported that a major report commissioned by the Scottish Government will call for the break-up of the bureaucratic empires governing health and social care, having concluded that Scotland's public services are "patchwork", "outdated" and "producer-led".

The report by the Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services says that patients,  especially older people, should no longer be moved between hospital and councils.

It states thatsubstantial savings of hundreds of millions of pounds  could be expected if health and social care were to be integrated, so that patients would have only one place to go to receive help.

The report is expected to play a key role in government decisions over coming weeks, as Scottish ministers prepare to handle reductions in their available budgets at the same time as multi-billion-pound increases in the costs of delivering health, social care and education.It says the main reason is because far too much money is spent on trying to alleviate social problems rather than keeping an eye on the big picture and tackling them at source.The commission has called for a complete culture change in the public sector to focus on prevention, and says all public bodies should focus on improving "outcomes" for patients, pupils and the public.
This call for more integration in health and social care is likely to be backed by ministers, who have already said they want to see reform in Scottish social care.

Could this be the change that the social sector in Scotland requires?