12th Annual Care of Older People in Scotland Conference: Policy, Workforce, Delivery and Rights

Tuesday 18th November 2025

Scotland is ageing – and fast. While longer lives are a testament to progress, they also reveal growing cracks in care services, workforce sustainability and rights-based support for older people. Gaps in provision, pressures on unpaid carers and fractured funding arrangements pose urgent questions about quality, fairness and continuity of care. Therefore, we must reconsider how we deliver, fund and reform care for older people across Scotland’s public, private and third sectors.

The care of older people stands at a critical crossroads. With a population aged over 75 projected to increase by nearly 30% by 2030, existing care infrastructure – already under immense strain – faces new and escalating demand. Unpaid carers remain essential yet undervalued, while staff recruitment and retention in professional care continue to suffer from low pay and limited progression.

The Scottish Government’s National Care Service proposals marked potential for a major policy shift, but clarity on local delivery, accountability and funding remains elusive. Meanwhile, care homes, home care and community health services are all seeking stability amidst reforms, workforce shortages and rising expectations.

Older people and their families require care that is not only safe and compassionate, but also person-centred and consistent, regardless of postcode. Questions of equity, dignity, independence and human rights are now central to Scotland’s care debate.

This conference will bring together health and social care policy, delivery, advocacy and inspection to reflect on Scotland’s current system and chart future reform that works in practice – and not just in policy.

This conference examines the challenges we face in providing consistent high quality care for older people in Scotland against the backdrop of multiple population, financial and service delivery pressures. It will focus on three themes:

• Delivering care and support for older people – addressing systems under pressure
• Rights, older people voices and the role of unpaid carers
• New challenges in adapting older people care to changing needs

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Topics to be discussed

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• Delivering care and support for older people – systems under pressure
• Home care under pressure – workforce, demand, and delivery
• Integrated health and social care – promises and pitfalls
• Rights, voice and the role of unpaid carers
• Embedding rights and dignity in care for older people
• Unpaid carers – the invisible workforce
• Listening to older people’s voices in care reform
• New challenges in adapting older people care to changing needs
• Digital inclusion and assistive technologies
• Mental health and wellbeing in later life
• Preventing frailty and promoting healthy ageing

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Who should attend

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This conference will be relevant for anyone involved in the care and support of older people in Scotland in home, medical, residential, care and other settings. This includes:

• Healthcare professionals, social work and other care staff
• Providers of residential and home support care services
• Lawyers, advisory and other organisations engaged with the personal, rights or financial interests of older people
• Human rights and equality advisors
• Service managers in public, private and third sector care delivery organisations
• Care relevant regulatory and inspection bodies
• Those responsible for understanding and shaping policy and practice in bodies which deliver care of older people
• Leaders in health and social care partnerships (HSCPs)
• Local authority directors of social work and adult care
• NHS professionals working with older people
• Third sector organisations supporting older people
• Carer advocacy groups
• Professional bodies, trade unions and workforce planners
• Academics and researchers in social care and ageing

Speakers