Report: Free Personal and Nursing Care, Scotland 2013-14

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published ‘Free Personal and Nursing Care, Scotland 2013-14’. This statistics release presents information on the number of people benefiting from free personal care and free nursing care in Scotland and how much Local Authorities spend on personal care services.

Some of the notable statistics included in the report are:

Care Homes

The amount of money spent by Local Authorities on Free Personal care and Free Nursing Care payments to self-funding residents in Care Homes has increased over the last ten years, from £93 million in 2004-05 to an estimated £130 million in 2013-14. This reflects the increasing number of self-funders and the annual increases in the FPNC payments from April 2008.

Home Care

The amount of money spent by Local Authorities on providing personal care services to older people in their own homes has risen from £158 million in 2004-05 to an estimated £364 million in 2013-14. This more than doubling of spend over the last ten years reflects the fact that:

• an increasing proportion of older people are being cared for at home, rather than in hospital or care homes
• increasingly home care workers are providing personal care services, rather than domestic services
• people living at home have increasing levels of need, reflecting the fact that people with high care needs are being supported to remain at home for longer