Monday March 16th 2026
Scottish Borders Council's director of Adult Social Work and Care, Chris Myers
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Scottish Borders Council has apologised after staff providing Care at Home services received news of changes to their employment – from the people they support.
A breakdown in communications led to widespread confusion and distress when letters informing of the changes were delivered on the final weekend of last month.
Some of the missives outlining a shake-up to Adult Social Care’s Care at Home Services reached service users first.
And certain carers were “reduced to tears” after being handed the letters from services users informing them of the modifications to the service they provide.
It forms part of a two-year redesign of care services in the Borders which are in the future to be delivered by a mixed model approach of external providers in addition to the council’s Homecare teams.
Trade union Unison has raised concerns at how SBC has handled the communications around the issue.
East Berwickshire Independent councillor James Anderson has also expressed his disquiet, saying: “These changes appear to have been implemented with no prior briefing or warning to front-line staff who deliver the care.
“Carers were caught entirely off guard when service users presented them with the letters on Sunday, March 1, and presumably over the weekend shifts.
“Staff had no information, no script, no FAQs, and no managerial guidance on how to respond to understandably confused, upset, and anxious clients.
“Several carers reported being reduced to tears while trying to support distressed service users and families without any answers or reassurance to offer.
“These concerns are not isolated, they reflect a pattern of poor communication and inadequate preparation during what is clearly a major service redesign.
“While I understand the financial and sustainability pressures (rising demand, staffing shortages, rural challenges, agency costs), the way in which these changes are being rolled out is causing unnecessary distress to both vulnerable service users and the dedicated workforce who support them.”
In response, Chris Myers, SBC’s director of Adult Social Work and Care, accepted that the communications had been badly handled.
He said: “In some instances staff found out after service users which is a significant concern. As part of the planning we were very clear on the need to manage the situation sensitively with staff and service users.
“It has become apparent that whilst communications were issued to staff by home email, work email and over TotalMobile on Thursday, some staff were unfortunately not aware of the communication when they visited their first clients when letters arrived on Saturday, despite having been sent out after the staff comms.
“Unfortunately for some staff who were not aware, when they found out from service users, this understandably caused significant concern to some staff and some service users.
“Since the issue, our Social Care Service Manager has visited all teams to apologise and clarify the situation further.
“From a staff impacts perspective, staff will continue to work their contracted hours.
“We have stopped recruiting new staff in the service and are working to reduce agency and overtime.
“We are also proactively offering staff opportunities in our wider adult social care service (ie day services and care homes).”
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