Kate Forbes has signalled she could halt the creation of a National Care Service if she wins the race to become the next SNP leader.
In a scathing assessment of the flagship legislation, which will centralise care services in a bid to drive up standards, she said it could not be delivered unless it first won the confidence of the public.
The creation of a National Care Service has been driven by health secretary Humza Yousaf, who is one of Forbes' two rivals in the SNP leadership contest.
The plans suffered a major set-back last month when a union representing thousands of care staff withdrew its support.
Speaking to the Reform Scotland think-tank, Forbes said: "For it to work it needs to be a Scotland-wide initiative, and by that I mean it needs to have the confidence of workers, trade unions, local government - who will be implementing much of it - and the Scottish Parliament.
"I don't think a scheme can be effectively delivered unless it has the confidence of the people who either going to be implementing it, managing it or informing how it's run.
'We also need to get back to the original review which identified the problems with care, largely focused on the fact it's a postcode lottery and there is not a universal standard of care.
"These are the problems that we're trying to fix. Rather than creating something that's massive, and consists of more problems, I think it is simpler than that.
"Which is how do we ensure there is a universal standard of care across Scotland and how do we ensure that it's not a postcode lottery.
"That may not require a National Care Service. It may require us to be a little bit more nimble and able to plug the gaps in care.
"I think anything that disempowers, and centralises power, is not going to fix the problem."
Care services in Scotland are currently provided by both private firms and local authorities, with councils largely responsible for regulating the sector.
But following criticism of care home performance during the coronavirus pandemic SNP ministers want to centralise the system to ensure consistent standards across the country.
Forbes added: "Call it a National Care Service if you want, but it really needs to fix problems that are a bit more simple than we are giving credit for."
Asked if she would look again at the plans, she replied: "Yes".
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