An SNP minister has asked Scots to help shape controversial plans to create a National Care Service.
Maree Todd - who previously admitted the plans were "hard for me to get my head around" - asked people with lived experience of social care services to have their say.
The National Care Service (NCS) was initially branded as a way to improve standards in care homes across the country after multiple failings were exposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
But firm details on how it will work - with care provision currently split between local authorities and the private sector - have so far remained elusive.
Ministers have pushed back the first parliamentary vote on the Bill setting up the NCS until after the summer recess in a bid to work on a co-design approach with the public.
The Bill has come under intense scrutiny from opposition parties, trade unions, and local authorities – which are currently responsible for much of the care which would come under the NCS remit.
Todd, the social care minister, announced 11 public meetings will take place across Scotland over the summer.
Meetings will take place from Dumfries and Galloway to Shetland, kicking off in Stirling on June 20, and people can also join online in they are unable to attend in person.
Anyone who has worked in the sector, or anyone who relies on the service for themselves or a relative, is invited to contribute.
Todd said: “There are unique demands across the country, which is why we’re going to different areas, ensuring communities the length and breadth of Scotland are represented in designing a national care service tailored to local needs.
“Having listened to care providers, unions and the third sector during the Bill scrutiny process, these meetings will allow anyone who uses care services, has a loved one that relies on care, or has worked in the sector to have their say.
“This will help inform future stages of the Bill as it progresses through the parliamentary process."
Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: “This SNP’s retreat by stealth on their doomed National Care Service is getting more and more ludicrous by the day.
"A fundamental criticism of this expensive and widely derided policy is that it will centralise social care provision in the hands of ministers, making it unresponsive to the needs of different local communities.
"You can’t have a national service that’s local – it’s a contradiction in terms. So the SNP are either fully U-turning on a scheme they’ve already delayed, but are maintaining the name to try to save face; or this is desperate spin by Maree Todd to give a nod to legitimate concerns over NCS without doing anything to address them."
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