Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of “letting down every single person under the age of 65 in Scotland” after dropping a heavy hint she will reject Frank’s Law.
The first minister has appeared to reject any attempts to reform the personal care system to make it fairer. This was despite Ms Stugeon previously saying she would look “supportively and sympathetically” at any proposals to improve care for people with dementia.
Amanda Kopel’s husband, Dundee United legend Frank, died six years after being diagnosed with dementia but only received free personal care in the final weeks of his life.
Mrs Kopel has vowed to continue her fight to help those most in need of help.
Asked by The Courier which is campaigning for Frank’s Law if she thought a person’s age should be the most important factor when considering if they need personal care, Ms Stugeon said: “We would like to be in a position where we can look at people with terminal conditions not of pension age.
“There’s been a long-standing campaign on behalf of some groups for people with disabilities. I’ve got to also be honest about the financial climate that we live in, so we continue to look carefully at that.
“I think free personal care for older people is one of the finest things that this Parliament has done and in principle I think it would also be a good thing to extend it to other groups but I am not, at the moment, in a position to be able to make a hard and fast commitment on that.”
Mrs Kopel, who will lead a protest outside the office of Health Secretary Shona Robison on Friday, claimed Scottish Government officials indicated last July that a bill moving towards Frank’s Law could be on the table by the end of that summer.
She said two witnesses were present when she was told.
The Kirriemuir woman demanded firm answers from the Scottish Government over the issue before next May’s Holyrood election.
She said: “Nicola and her Government are letting down every single person under the age of 65 in Scotland. I need somebody to turn around and say to me: ‘We have costed this’.
“I want them to have the guts to come out and just tell the Scottish people they are not going to introduce Frank’s Law and we will let the Scottish people decide if that’s the right decision.
“I’m not giving up because I would be letting my husband down.
“He is the person who said to me: ‘Keep going with it because it will help so many other people in the future.’ I won’t let him or all the other under-65s down.”
Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee, which is handling the progress of Frank’s Law through the Parliament, has called Dundee City East MSP Ms Robison to return to give evidence on the issue.
That is expected to take place early next month.