IT is said, and not without merit, that a society is measured by how it cares for its elderly citizens.

This is particularly true today as life expectancy trends ever upwards with many more people living healthily well into what was once considered a very old age.

But obviously, as more of the population gets older then pressure is added to health services as elderly people will begin to develop complex needs as well as the odd joint replacement along the way.

It is one of the upsides of modern society that people are living to a grand age with many pensioners growing old disgracefully – which is exactly the way it should be.

They have earned the right after all – just like the generation behind them will have too.

In general terms, Scotland and indeed most of the UK, falls behind some other countries such as Spain and Japan where the elderly are almost revered by the younger generations and the state.

It is fair to say, over here we merely admire the elderly, some of them anyway, and we all fall a long way short of giving them the total respect they receive elsewhere.

When it comes to care, we can also fall a bit short with some families thinking nothing about shipping granny off to a care home when she shows the first sign of dementia.

We can be a pretty selfish bunch and think nothing about getting rid of a “problem” from our lives because it’s inconvenient and will impact on us.

Thankfully that is not a universal belief and social care has dramatically improved in recent years, although there is still quite a bit to go.

To try and make things better, the Scottish Government plans a National Care Service which will mean people will be supported in their homes by loved ones in the community wherever possible.

This, according to the Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, will “end the postcode lottery” of social care.

The flagship plans to overhaul adult social care also aims for a seamless transition between community and at-home services, a social care charter of rights and responsibilities being drawn up and visiting rights for residents living in adult care homes.

The strategy would also place a focus on prevention and early intervention before people’s needs escalate to require more assistance.

It would also introduce rights to breaks for unpaid carers, ensure fair employment practices and national pay bargaining for the workforce and a new National Social Work Agency being created to promote training and monitor standards.

Never one to undersell anything, Mr Yousaf said it is, “the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the NHS”.

He really needs to stop his hyperbole, even John Lewis has undersold more often than he has.

The question that must be asked about the new service is exactly who will benefit from it in the long-term as it sounds like it won’t be the elderly – the very people it is allegedly designed to help.

For a start, the legislation stops short of preventing private health companies from profiting by providing care.

Unison, the country’s largest trade union, has warned the proposals will remove legal responsibility for social care from democratically elected councils in favour of quangos – with no attempt to remove the market or the profit motive from the sector.

There will also be vast costs involved in setting up and running the service – with almost £1.3bn needed to establish the project by 2026.

Setting up a national body to deliver the National Care Service could cost up to £495 million – while establishing care boards could require up to £726 million of public funding.

This is £1.3bn that will have to be diverted from elsewhere.

Up to 700 government staff may also be needed to be hired for the service to operate, while 100,000 care staff will have to be transferred from local government into the new new centralised body.

It is no wonder critics are warning that it is a recipe for “chaos”.

Recent Scottish history tells us that centralising public services simply doesn’t work and lessons clearly have not been learned.

Centralising social care will just increase bureaucracy, at a time when we need less not more. Just look at the horrendously inefficient NHS.

There’s also the Scottish Government’s own track record for running public services to be taken into consideration.

If they cannot even launch a ferry then leaving them in charge of elderly relatives shouldn’t fill anyone with confidence.