HOME CARE SERVICES, SCOTLAND 2001

Introduction

The purpose of this Statistics Release is to present the latest national figures for home care services provided or purchased by local authorities in Scotland. All figures relate to the week ending 31st March 2001 and are provisional and, as such, may be subject to change. The final figures will be published in 'Scottish Community Care Statistics 2001'.

Main points

Comparisons with 2000 show: -

• While the number of home care clients has decreased this year (by 7 per cent), the number of hours provided to clients has remained around the same level. This has resulted in the overall hours per client increasing from 5.6 in 2000 to 6.0 in 2001 (an increase of 7 per cent).
• The number of older people (aged 65 and over) receiving intensive home care (more than 10 hours per week) has increased from 11.4 clients per 1,000 population of older people in 2000 to 12.6 in 2001 (an increase of 11 per cent).

Information collected on home care services shows that: -

• 18 per cent of clients received more than 10 hours per week (compared to 15 per cent in 2000).
• The majority of clients (71 per cent) received services on weekdays only, whilst 28 per cent received services on weekdays and at the weekend.
• 76 per cent of services were provided in the morning / early afternoon (between 7am and 2pm).
• 10 per cent were provided in the evening / overnight (between 7pm and 7am).

The groups of people who used home care services in 2001 are similar to last year: -

• 85 per cent of clients were aged 65 years and over.
• 76 per cent of clients had physical disabilities (including frailty associated with ageing).
• Most people using the service (77 per cent) lived alone. 7 per cent of service users lived in households where two or more people received the service.

Information collected on staffing shows: -

• There were an estimated 10,009 whole-time equivalent home care staff directly employed in local authorities providing a total of 323,106 hours of direct contact.

Provider and Purpose of Home Care Services

There were an estimated 394,567 hours of service provided to around 65,533 clients in 2001. The number of home care clients has fallen steadily over the past 4 years, while the number of client hours has fluctuated. In 1998 and 1999 clients received, on average, 5.1 hours of home care per week. This has risen to 5.6 hours in 2000 and to 6.0 hours this year (See Table 1).

Table 1: Number of Home Care Clients and Hours Provided/Purchased

The number of older people receiving intensive home care (more than 10 hours per week) has increased over the 4-year period. In 2001, 12.6 clients per 1,000 population aged 65 or over received intensive home care -compared with 11.4 in 2000 and 9.8 in 1999 (See Table 1).

There were an estimated 65,533 clients who received a home care service provided or purchased by a local authority in 2001. Of these, 13 per cent received at least part of their home care service from a private or voluntary provider -compared to 10 per cent in 2000 (See Table 2).

Table 2: Number of Home Care Clients and Hours Provided / Purchased by Provider of Service

There were an estimated 394,567 hours of service provided or purchased by local authorities in 2001. Of these, 55,098 hours (14 per cent) were provided solely by the private / voluntary sector (See Table 2 & Chart 1).

The average number of contact hours per client for those receiving local authority provided services only was 5.4 hours compared to 9.9 hours for those receiving home care from a private or voluntary provider only (See Table 2).

Profile of Clients Receiving Home Care Services

Approximately 76 per cent of clients receiving home care services provided or purchased by local authorities were people with physical disabilities (including frailty associated with ageing). 85 per cent of all clients were aged 65 years or over (See Table 3).

12 per cent of home care clients were classified as being in 'other vulnerable groups'. It is expected that this group will include some clients who would have been classified as 'older people' under the previous classification system (See Table 3).

Table 3: Age and Client Group of Clients Receiving Home Care Services

Approximately 77 per cent of clients in receipt of a home care service were living alone; an additional 7 per cent were living in households where two or more people received the service (See Table 4).

Table 4: Living Arrangements of Clients Receiving Home Care Services

Levels and Timing of Home Care Services Provided

18 percent of clients of home care services received more than 10 hours of service provided or purchased by a local authority in 2001 (See Table 5). This percentage has gradually increased over the last 4 years and the number of clients receiving less than 4 hours has decreased over the same period (See Chart 2). This indicates a gradual shift towards a more intensive level of service.

Table 5: Number of Home Care Clients by Levels of Service Received

Chart 3 and Table 6 illustrate the provision of home care services by time of day and part of week.

71 per cent of clients received a home care service on weekdays only, whilst only one per cent received services at the weekends only (See Chart 3).

76 per cent of hours of service were delivered in the morning / lunchtime period, i.e. between 7am and 2pm, an additional 10 per cent were delivered in the evening / overnight period, i.e. between 7pm and 7am (See Table 6).

Table 6: Provision of Home Care Services by Time of Day and Part of Week

Staff Providing Home Care Services

There were 10,009 whole-time equivalent (WTE) staff employed within Scottish local authorities to provide home care services. They provided a total of 323,106 direct contact hours (See Table 7).

Table 7: Local Authority Employed Home Care Staff

For local authority staff providing home care services, the average number of client contact hours per whole-time equivalent staff was estimated to be 32.3 hours in 2001.

Equivalent information on staffing within private and voluntary organisations providing home care services is not available.

Background Information on the Collection of Home Care Services

Data was collected with respect to the week ending 31 March 2001, although some local authorities provided information for a different week, which was thought to be more typical.

A revised home care statistical collection was introduced in 1998. Local authorities are asked to provide details of all home care services provided by their own staff, and in addition, services bought in from other local authorities, and private / voluntary organisations. Further information on home care services is published in 'Scottish Community Care Statistics 2000'.

A number of authorities had difficulty in providing information on services purchased from private and voluntary providers. Care should therefore be taken when interpreting figures in this area of provision as a considerable amount of data has been estimated.

Some of the column and row totals in these tables may not exactly equal the sum of their component parts due to the effects of rounding.

There is external evidence that the amount of home care services provided without local authority involvement, e.g. purchased privately by families, has grown significantly in recent years. Statistical information on such activity in Scotland is not currently available, and therefore is not included in this analysis.

Unpaid carers also provide help and care for disabled and older people. Information on carers is available in Chapter 6 of 'Scottish Community Care Statistics 2000'.

Further Information

Further details and analysis of the data presented in this Statistics Release are available on request from the address given below.

Information at a disaggregate local authority level showing number of clients receiving a service and number of hours service provided or purchased is shown in annex 1 to this Statistics Release.

Social Work Statistics
Room 52
James Craig Walk
Edinburgh
EH1 3BA

Contact: Steven Gillespie
Tel: 0131 244 3777
e-mail: steven.gillespie@scotland.gov.uk

This statistics release was published on the 14^th November 2001.

ANNEX 1: Total Number of Home Care Clients and Hours of Service Provided by Local Authority

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication