Report: A profile of the care at home sector in Scotland 2015

A new academic report commissioned by Scottish Care, entitled ‘Home Delivery: A profile of the care at home sector in Scotland 2015’ was launched on 5 June 2015 at Scottish Care’s annual National Care At Home & Housing Support Conference in Glasgow.

Delivering care and support to people in their own homes, helping them to retain their independence and community connectedness, and preventing unnecessary admission to hospital or long-term care, are central to the Scottish Government’s strategy for Reshaping Care and improving outcomes for adults and older people with care needs.

Good data, analysis, and narrative are crucial for effective Strategic Planning at both a national and local level. Accordingly, Scottish Care commissioned the authoritative collation, summary and review of existing data on care at home in Scotland, which forms the basis of this report. The hope is it will focus attention on the sector, highlight key challenges, and stimulate discussion about future development. If care at home is to fulfil its full potential, there needs to be a collective commitment and nationally endorsed plan of action.

Summary of Research Findings

• The number of publicly funded clients receiving care at home has fallen across Scotland over the last decade

• The number of clients who receive public funding to meet their non-personal support needs (such as mopping and shopping) has dramatically reduced over the decade

• The number of hours of care at home provided publicly in Scotland has increased. The number of publicly funded clients receiving 10 plus hours of care at home has increased

• Local authorities now contract out more than half (60%) of all care at home hours, having previously provided almost 70% of care at home hours through their own in-house services

• There is evidence to suggest that the commissioning process between purchasers and providers remains problematic

• Over the past decade, more hours of care at home have been provided by fewer staff

• The care at home workforce in Scotland remains predominantly female, is older than the average of Scotland’s working age population, and is largely employed on a part time basis

• Pay rates in the sector are below Scottish average pay rates

• Care at home expenditure has increased over recent years, while spend on residential care has been decreasing

• Expenditure on care at home, combined with expenditure on residential care, is less than what is spent nationally on emergency admissions into hospitals

• The cost of one average emergency admission for over 65s equates to caring for 27.7 care at home clients for one week or caring for an older person for 9.28 weeks in a residential care home

• In the quarter April to June 2014, delayed discharges accounted for 91,644 bed days. The expenditure associated with this could alternatively provide a year’s care at home for 4,042 clients or a year’s residential care for 1,354 clients

• Overall, client satisfaction levels with care at home services are high. However, studies demonstrate that many clients would like to receive more care at home services than they have currently been allocated

• Client satisfaction levels were lower in relation to the organisations delivering care at home services, with issues of communication and lack of flexibility being raised. Many of the studies noted that care packages were lacking in adequate provision of what was termed ‘mopping and shopping’ services

To read the full report, please click here.