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Radical plan to pay Scots families to look after loved ones being considered to ease NHS crisis amid Omicron surge

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dailyrecord.co.uk

A radical plan to pay family to take care of a loved one to ease the crisis in the NHS is being considered across Scotland.

The Government is to look at proposals to pay relatives to do the job of home carers in a bid to prevent hospital bed blocking and help a sector struggling with huge staff shortages because of Covid.

But the scheme is facing controversy because family members could be given £15 an hour – £5 more than the average care worker earns and the minimum unions demanded for care workers last year.Orkney offered the scheme – already in place in some parts of England – over Christmas because of severe staff shortages on the island.The chief executive of Scottish Care Dr Donald Macaskill said “whole system pressure” was similar to ambulance delays last year which saw hospital delays leading to waits for paramedics at home.He said: “It’s one giant circle and when it collapses – as it is at the moment with social care ­– we aren’t able to provide care in the community.“Councils and the NHS are already asking families to do more but these are people already running on empty.“Paying families for care allows them to take leave from their work to take care of their loved ones in the short-term.“We will need to start looking at these solution all over Scotland.

It is being done in some areas of the south of England already.“Pre-pandemic we already had a shortage of home carers for lots of reasons but at the moment the lack of staff because of Omicron is critical.”Up to one in four home care staff are off because of Covid or self-isolation rules.

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