The Scottish Government

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3. People receiving Free Personal Care and Free Nursing Care

3.1 Care Homes

Since 2002, the Scottish Executive has collected information on the number of residents aged 65+ supported by local authorities in care homes. These residents may be mainly funded by their local authority or may be a self-funder receiving £145 or £210 per week towards their care homes fees. All of these residents receive personal care services for free.

Table 1 shows that the average number of long-stay residents aged 65+ in care homes in Scotland reduced slightly over the five years since the introduction of free personal and nursing care. Over this period there have been around 32,000 older people resident in care homes.

In contrast, the number of self-funding residents who receive £145 per week for free personal care has increased by 20% from an average of 7,590 in 2002-03 to 9,080 in 2005-06. In 2002-03, 24% of long-stay residents were self-funders. This increased to 29% in 2005-06.

Around two-thirds of self-funding residents receive the free nursing care payment (£65) in addition to the free personal care payment (£145). The number of self-funders receiving free nursing care has increased by 22% from an average of 4,840 in 2002-03 to 5,890 in 2005-06.

Adults aged under 65 may receive the £65 nursing care payment if they are self-funders in a care home. In 2002-03, an average 45 people aged under 65 received the nursing care payment. This rose to 60 in 2005-06. These numbers are small reflecting the fact that the majority of adults aged under 65 in care homes are funded by the local authority.

Further information on care homes is available from the Scottish Care Homes Census - which can be found at : www.scotland.gov.uk/statistics/commcare/publications

Table 1 : Care Home residents, 2002-03 to 2005-06

Source: Community Care Quarterly Key Monitoring
All figures are yearly averages rounded to the nearest 10.

3.2 Home Care

The Scottish Executive publishes home care statistics annually. The latest figures, for 2006, are available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/statistics/commcare/publications.

Since the introduction of free personal care, the number of older people receiving home care services in Scotland has increased each year from 55,750 in 2002-03 to 57,880 in 2004-05. In 2005-06, the numbers fell slightly to 57,190.

The number of home care clients receiving personal care services has increased each year since the introduction of free personal care, from 27,340 clients in 2002-03 to 41,240 in 2005-06. It should be noted that the 2002-03 figure is thought to be an undercount. Many local authorities could not provide figures straight away as systems were being put in place and early figures were estimated

Over the last 6 years there has been a shift away from care homes towards more care being provided in peoples own homes. At the same time there has been an increase in the proportion of clients receiving personal care services. In 2002-03, when free personal care was introduced, 49% of clients received personal care services. This has steadily increased each year to reach 72% in 2005-06.

3.3 Direct Payments for Free Personal Care

Direct Payments are for self-directed community care whereby eligible people purchase and manage for themselves some or all of the care they have been assessed as needing. They are one way of increasing the flexibility, choice, and control people have over the care they receive, so that they can live more independently in their communities. At March 2006, there were an estimated 200 people in Scotland using direct payments to purchase the personal and nursing care services they need.

Table 2: Home Care clients, 2002-03 to 2005-06

Source: Community Care Quarterly Key Monitoring
All figures are yearly averages rounded to the nearest 10.

Care Home residents 2002-03 to 2005-06

Home Care Clients 2002-03 to 2005-06

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