A lack of detail on how plans for a new National Care Service will be funded has led to a call for a delay to the deadline for their response to an "exhausting" consultation.
West Lothian’s Integrated Joint Board has echoed others across Scotland by highlighting concerns at the consultation process on plans for a National Care Service.
And the IJB agreed this week to ask for an extended deadline until after it meets again on 9 November to submit a response after the initial document was presented to board members.
The consultation time has already been extended to the first week of November.
Board members were invited by new chairman Bill McQueen to air their views on the 96 questions posed in the consultation.
He told the meeting he was aware that it was difficult for the board to express a unified view on such a broad brush document and wondered whether members even agreed that a response should be made.
Board members lauded Project Officer Lorna Kemp’s “heroic” work in pulling together 61 pages to present to the meeting, summarising the work done so far and including the 54 pages of questions in the government consultation.
The consultation covers virtually all aspects of health and social care provisions - but offers no suggestion on staffing and financial implications.
Elaine Duncan said: “The IJB should submit a response because it's a significant change to current structures, I would hope all boards submit a response. I think the document has a great number of very detailed questions although I would suggest that if we can’t entirely agree on answering every question I would suggest a covering letter outlining concerns.
She added: “There are major themes in reading our response, such as the lack of financial information about how this is all going to be paid for.”
The broad brush suggestions of the relationships that could be formed between the NHS and the new service also attracted comment and Mrs Duncan reserved greatest doubt for proposals to introduce one “mega-care document'' through IT systems that would cover patients across both the NHS and the new NCS was potentially a “road to disaster.”
“I think perhaps summarising our principal concerns might be a useful thing to do. It is an exhausting document to go through,” she added.
Conservative group leader Councillor Damian Doran-Timson said he welcomed the Care Service proposition but said the consultation offered little in way concrete proposals but revealed a minefield of issues.
“There is so much detail that is lacking,” he added.
Others highlighted the seeming disconnect in the proposal suggesting that the new Care Service would act as a commissioning body which would suggest staff providing the service would then be provided by councils and NHS.
Mr McQueen had his own reservations about some of the specific responses that had been drawn up, adding that other board members would have their views .
He said he was confident that a request for extension to the response deadline would be met and added that, in his experience, the response from the would carry as much weight as any that had come earlier.
He suggested a group of project officers, himself and deputy chair Councillor Harry Cartmill gather to put together a response which could then be decided on at the November meeting of the IJB to be submitted to the Scottish Government after that meeting.
Members agreed.
