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5. Background information on the collection of the data

These statistics are being published as National Statistics for the first time this year.

5.1 Data Sources

A variety of different data sources were used to compile this Statistics Release, as detailed below:

Community Care Monthly key monitoring return

Between 2002 and 2005 the Scottish Executive collected monthly information from Local Authorities regarding the number of residents supported in Care Homes. This data is summarised in Annex 1. From 2006, this information was collected quarterly in the community care quarterly key monitoring return.

Community Care Quarterly key monitoring return

Since July 2002, the Scottish Executive has collected quarterly information on the number of people receiving personal care services at home and the number of self-funders receiving free personal care and free nursing care payments. The numbers represent only those people receiving FPC and FNC under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

For Care Homes, this provides a count of those people who are self-funders and are assessed as requiring free personal care and/or free nursing care.

For care at home the figures show all people receiving personal care services at home. Many of these people would have received their personal care for free prior to the introduction of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, but prior to July 2002 this was dependent on local policy and the client's financial status. It is estimated that Local authorities spent at least £64.5 million in 2001-02 on providing personal care services. Full details available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/17655/SutherlandReview/Reports-Used/Care-Cost-Sub-Group

The results of the quarterly survey are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/Data/QuarterlySurvey

A copy of the survey form and notes for guidance is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/DataSupplier

Free Personal and nursing care expenditure survey

The Scottish Executive carried out a separate survey asking about expenditure on free personal and nursing care for 2002-03 and 2003-04. From 2004-05 onwards this data has been collected through the Local Financial Return ( LFR3).

For Care Homes, the numbers represent spend on self-funding residents in Care Homes who receive FPC and FNC under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. It should be noted that Care Home residents who are supported under the National Assistance regulations also receive personal and nursing care for free but these costs are not considered here.

For care at home, the numbers represent all spend on personal care services provided to people in their own homes.

Copies of all Community Care Surveys are available from the website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/DataSupplier

Local Financial Return ( LFR3)

The Local Financial Return collects expenditure statistics for each local authority in Scotland. The LFR3 collects all expenditure and income relating to social work services. From 2004-05, questions relating to expenditure on free personal care were added to the LFR3 return. Further information is available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance

5.2 Understanding the Statistics in this Report.

All information in this Statistics Release is presented for the financial year 1 ^st April to 31 ^st March.

The Free Personal Care policy began on the 1 ^st July 2002, part way through the financial year 2002-03. We have excluded figures for 2002-03, from this Statistics Release as the data is not for a full year and therefore can be confusing when trying to make comparisons with full years. Also the data for 2002-03 is less robust as Local Authorities was just beginning to get IT systems in place to monitor this information.

Care Homes

In general, care should be taken when comparing the data on 'numbers' of people receiving free personal care and 'expenditure' on free personal care. The number of people receiving FPC and FNC payments is collected at the end of the quarter and represents the number of people receiving payments on the last day of the quarter. These four quarters are averaged to produce the yearly total.

Due to the large number of admissions and discharges throughout the year, these averages do not necessarily represent the number of people receiving FPC for the full 52 weeks of the year. In the year to March 2007, there were 12,500 long-stay admissions to care homes for older people in Scotland. This represents 240 long-stay admissions every week. It should be noted that these figures only provide a snapshot of the number of people receiving payments at the end of the quarter rather than a precise count of throughput.

Care at Home

As with the care homes data, the quarterly data for FPC at home provides a snapshot at the end of each quarter which have been averaged to provide an annual figure. This will not compare directly with the expenditure data which takes into account fluctuations within each quarter.

For both Care Homes and Care at Home, the expenditure figures include overheads in line with the LFR3 guidance and the CIPFA Best Value Accounting Code of Practice ( BVACOP).

5.3 Changes from Previous Years

All expenditure data in this report includes an estimate of overheads in line with the CIPFA Best Value Accounting Code of Practice ( BVACOP). Previously, the picture was mixed with some Local Authorities including overheads while others didn't. In January 2008, Audit Scotland published 'A review of Free Personal and Nursing Care' in which they estimated the cost of FPC including overheads. This publication supersedes the figures in the Audit Scotland report.

5.4 Limitations of the Data

For some Local Authorities, it appears that expenditure on personal care services at home is higher than overall expenditure on home care services. This can happen for a number of reasons:

• Where resource transfer from Health Boards has been included as income against home care services for older people.
• Where supporting people grant has been included as income against home care services for older people.
• Where the personal care expenditure includes overheads but the home care expenditure returned in the LFR3 did not include an allocation of overheads.

Many Local Authorities have seen a rise in personal care at home costs in 2006-07. The reasons for this are not just increased demand but also:

• Shift in the balance of care, away from care homes towards more care at home.
• Introduction of equal pay provision resulting in higher wage costs.
• Providing refunds to clients for meal preparation where this was previously charged for.

5.5 Other publications relevant to Free Personal and Nursing Care in 2008

A review of Free Personal and Nursing Care - Audit Scotland - 1 February 2008
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/work/health_national.php?year=2007

Independent Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care - A Report by Lord Sutherland - April 2008
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/17655/SutherlandReview

5.5 Further information

Further details and analysis of the data presented in this Statistics Release are available on request from the address given below. The Statistics Release is available on the Internet by accessing the Scottish Executive web site: -
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/Publications

Information at local authority level is shown in the annex to this Statistics Release.

Contact: Steven Gillespie

Tel: 0131 244 3777
E-mail: SWStat@scotland.gov.uk

This statistics release was published on 26 ^th August 2008.

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