Concerns that National Care Service will damage East Ayrshire's progress

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Plans for an unprecedented National Care Service could see the 'disintegration' of the partnership built up in the local care sector according to the body set up to oversee social care in East Ayrshire.East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board, which oversees the work of the local Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) between the council and NHS, is expected to deliver a strong joint response to the Scottish Government's plans for a NHS-like national care service.The issue was discussed at a meeting of the board on Wednesday.There has been considerable opposition to the plans in East Ayrshire since the outset, with major concerns that East Ayrshire's positive work will be dismantled and services compromised.One of the main concerns for those involved is what is seen as a dismissal of the positives that can come from a successful partnership by the Scottish Government.The HSCP only came into force in 2014, with the put Integration Joint Board in place in 2015.East Ayrshire Council leader Douglas Reid, who chairs the IJB, said: "We don't deny the reason behind the bill is to improve quality of social work and social care services.

That is something we all want."We really are disappointed that there is no reflection of where integration has worked well. We know that performance is inconsistent across the country but I didn't hear any leaders from other council areas saying this was the solution."For ourselves, integration has worked well and we can see positives we've achieved.

This will damage some of the positive strides we have made."The report to the Integration Joint Board, highlighted a number of areas of concern:The draft response stated: "We believe that there are still too many questions and unknown factors for the