Landmark plans to create a National Care Service in Scotland fall "glaringly short", unions and campaigners have warned.
The Scottish Government last month unveiled proposals for a massive shake-up of the sector which will make care home bosses directly accountable to SNP ministers.
Health secretary Humza Yousaf said it would improve conditions for staff and residents alike by driving up standards across the country.
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But the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has claimed the plan does not go far enough and called for private care homes to be bought out and placed under public control.
The Record has championed the reform of the care sector after the coronavirus pandemic revealed shocking inconsistencies in standards across the country.
But at a meeting in Edinburgh today, unions including Unison, GMB and Unite have urged the SNP ministers to think again on their masterplan.
According to the blueprint published last month, the proposed National Care Service would remain “ownership neutral”, embedding a role for the private sector in social care.
Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, insisted privately-run homes were associated with low pay and more complaints about care quality.
Foyer said: "Our research clearly shows that large privately owned care homes perform worse than not-for-profit care homes at almost every level.
"They are worse for those receiving care, worse for the workers providing care and worse for the taxpayer.
"It simply isn’t the case that Scotland can’t afford to buy out private care homes, we can’t afford not to.
"As it stands, the Scottish Government are falling glaringly short in offering the transformative shake up to social care Scotland badly needs.
"As the National Care Service Bill makes its way through Parliament, politicians must focus their attention on the kind of organisations we want to provide care for our citizens, not as seems to be the case just now, the centralisation of commissioning and outsourcing procedures."
Catherine Russell, of the Care Home Relatives campaign group, said: "Private homes are not the most cost effective or highest quality. They are extremely costly for residents who need to pay and the profit motive tends to drive down staff conditions.
"Scotland can and should find a better, fairer way to do things."
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "The National Care Service will allow us to improve standards across the board and end the postcode lottery in the sector.
"The current models of securing care services will be replaced by a model of ethical commissioning and ethical procurement as the cornerstone of the National Care Service.
"This will include ensuring that all adult care staff experience fair work and introducing national pay bargaining to deliver more equitable terms and conditions.
"The National Care Service will design its services locally to ensure individual needs and local circumstances are taken in account. This will include continuing to work with specialist charity and third sector providers of care services."
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