Lawyer backs Scots care of older people

Scotland has a more rational legal framework for the long-term care
of older people than England, according to social care law
specialist Belinda Schwehr.

She told delegates that a spate of litigation in England had led to
several specialist lawyers dealing with contested cases of funding
and care home provision. Scotland had no such need for specialist
lawyers because of the tripartite system of funding between local
authorities, private providers and the executive.

But she said Scotland was experiencing “rumblings of discontent”
after it emerged that the executive’s national working group into
the cost of care had failed to review care home fees.

Schwehr added that, in her experience, the social care work force
in Scotland had a good understanding of the legal framework for
care.