“We Feel Discarded” – April O’Neil on Disabled People’s Renewed Fight for Care Reform After the National Care Service is Scrapped
“We feel like we have been discarded.” That’s what disabled people say when you ask them how they feel about the decision to scrap the National Care Service (NCS) Bill.
Disabled people in Scotland have long faced systemic challenges when trying to access the support they are entitled to. Despite promises of a fairer, more compassionate social care support system, many continue to experience delays, unfair assessments, and policies that fail to recognise the realities of disabled people’s day to day lives.
In a powerful article for Scottish Left Review, Inclusion Scotland’s People-led Policy Coordinator, April O’Neill, explores the harsh realities of Scotland’s current approach to disability benefits. Through the lived experiences of People-led Policy Panel (PLPP) members, she exposes the ways in which disabled people are being let down, not just by policy decisions, but by a system that too often feels designed to exclude rather than support.
At Inclusion Scotland, we believe that change is possible, but only if disabled people are at the heart of decision-making. Our PLPP was one of the key stakeholders in the development of the NCS plan, ensuring that lived experience shaped Scotland’s vision for a more inclusive and rights-based care system. That’s why we share the deep disappointment at the Scottish Government’s decision to scrap the NCS Bill, abandoning long-overdue reforms that disabled people helped shape. This decision has only added to growing concerns that disabled people’s voices are not being heard when it matters most.
April’s article calls for urgent reform, accountability, and a social care support system that truly centres disabled people’s needs and rights.