John Swinney has been urged to scrap plans for National Care Service, with both Tory and Labour leaders demanding a rethink.
In his debut appearance at First Minister's Questions as leader of the Scottish Tories, Russell Findlay described the SNP flagship policy as an “expensive, bloated and wasteful quango.”
More than £28 million has been spent on work to create the new organisation, which has already been delayed until 2029.
The legislation — which is currently making its way through parliament — would see the government set up “care boards” directly accountable to Scottish ministers who will take on functions and staff that are currently managed and run by local authorities and health boards.
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Criticism of the Bill has been mounting in recent weeks, with councils, NHS leaders and unions all pulling support.
Meanwhile, figures published on Tuesday showed a drop in the number of care homes and registered places, along with a record number of people stuck in hospital despite being well enough to leave.
Mr Findlay told MSPs: “One in five care homes have closed over the past decade, and the NHS is paying the price with almost 2,000 people trapped in hospitals, which is the highest on record.
“First Minister, Scotland's care sector is collapsing today. People need action today.
“Every penny should be spent helping them today, not wasting years on yet another SNP pet project that is doomed to fail.”
Mr Swinney said the government had been “putting in sustained efforts” to deal with delayed discharge and that the situation “would have been significantly worse had we not done so.”
“But today, per 100,000 of population in each local authority area in the country, the number of delayed discharges ranges from 9.3 in one local authority area to 108 in another. 10 times the difference.
“So if one local authority area can secure a delayed discharge level of 9.3 per 100,000 population, I ask myself, why is there a position which is 10 times worse at the other end of the spectrum. That is unfair in this country. It needs to be addressed, and that is what a national care service will deliver.”
He added: “Plans for a National Care Service that are costing a fortune but not caring for anyone, just like the ferries that do not carry passengers and prisons that free criminals early, this government needs a reality check.
“It has become disconnected from the people it is supposed to represent, like the thousands who are in need of care today. Surely it is basic common sense to ditch the SNPs National Care Service plan and just put the money directly into frontline care?”
Mr Swinney said the government was “investing in our social care system” in a “more significant way than is provided for by the financial allocations made to Scotland by the United Kingdom Government.”
The new Tory leader, he pointed out, had backed Liz Truss to be leader of the party.
This prompted jeers from the Tory benches.
“The Conservatives obviously do not like hearing that Mr Findlay was a supporter of Liz Truss, whose economic and fiscal policies have undermined the public finances of Scotland.
"That is the reality that I am going to point out to Mr Findlay.
"What this government has done is it has taken the hard decisions to invest more in our public services, more in our health and social care services than would have been the case if we had followed the United Kingdom government's budget allocations to Scotland.”
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Labour’s Anas Sarwar said the SNP’s plans for a care service was a “disaster.”
“Their botched plans are just a power-grab that will waste money, won’t improve care and won’t address delayed discharge which is a key factor in the NHS crisis.
“We support a proper National Care Service.
“But as always with this government, no good idea ever survives their incompetence.”
He asked for a “credible alternative.”
The First Minister said, “service users want a national care service.”
“We are committed to doing exactly that, and we will engage constructively with the Labour Party and with anybody else about their ideas about taking forward the national care service, but what we have to be aware of is that when members of parliament come here demanding investment in our public services, they have to be prepared to support the means to make that happen.
“That does not happen.
“If members of parliament come here and oppose what we are doing on tax, it does not happen if members of parliament, as Mr Sarwar told me during the election campaign, say there will be no austerity, and then deliver austerity in the United Kingdom Government, that does not add up, that will not meet the needs of patients in our country."
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