Nicola Sturgeon: Health secretary praised achievements. Pic: © STV
Free personal care is here to stay, Nicola Sturgeon has told the SNP's spring conference.
Ms Sturgeon, the party's deputy leader and health secretary at the Scottish Parliament, restated her party's commitment to the policy as politicians in England examine the best way to provide care for the growing elderly population.
She told the SNP conference in Aviemore on Sunday that the three main UK parties all want personal care for the elderly to be means tested, but stressed that the Scottish Government does "not accept that".
Ms Sturgeon said: "We believe that free personal care is one of the Scottish Parliament's proudest achievements.
"We have invested to secure its future, we believe it is part of the debt we owe older folk, so let me be clear that free personal care is here to stay with the SNP."
UK health secretary Andy Burnham has ruled out the prospect of a £20,000 flat-rate levy on estates after an individual's death, but is considering a percentage levy, possibly at 10%. Meanwhile the Tories are proposing a voluntary insurance scheme, which they say could be charged at about £8,000 on retirement.
Ms Sturgeon also used her speech this afternoon to highlight some of the achievements by the NHS under the Nationalist administration, with so-called "hidden" waiting lists abolished, waiting time targets for cancer patients being met and hospital infections at a record low.
She said she was "proud" of the NHS in Scotland, adding: "What I am most proud of is we have achieved all this and more within a publicly funded, publicly delivered National Health Service."
At the conference on Saturday, SNP leader Alex Salmond called on Scots to reject the UK-wide "metropolitan" parties and vote for his party instead. The Nationalists are aiming to secure 20 seats in the forthcoming general election.
FULL COVERAGE
- Alex Salmond: It's time to reject the UK parties
- Watch Alex Salmond's speech to his party's spring conference
