Free personal care policy to be made clearer
7 Mar 07
Rgeulations to confirm pensioners' entitlement to free preparation of food
The Scottish Executive has confirmed that pensioners' legal right to free food preparation will be made clearer to local authorities.
A number of councils have been charging for the service because they claim the advice from the Executive on the implementation of the free personal care policy is ambigious, but Lewis Macdonald, the Deputy Health Minister, told Holyrood's Health Committee yesterday that he planned to raise the matter with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA).
He said that the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 stated clearly that assistance given with food preparation should not be charged for, but as different interpretations were still being applied, he proposed the introduction of a new regulatory framework.
The results of a recent survey showed that about half of Scotland's councils are not helping pensioners with the preparation of food. However, following legal action some councils have been forced to reimburse those that have been wrongly charged for the service.