Free personal and nursing care, Scotland, 2016-17

2. People receiving Free Personal Care and Free Nursing Care

This section presents the latest available data on the number of people receiving Free Personal Care and Free Nursing Care in a Care Home and people receiving Free Personal Care at home.

2.1 Care Homes

Since 2002, information has been collected 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 self-funders receiving the appropriate weekly payment towards their Care Home fees. All of these residents receive personal care services for free.

Figure 3: Care Home residents, 2007-08 to 2016-17

Figure 3 (above) and Table 1 show that the number of long-stay residents aged 65+ in Care Homes in Scotland has reduced slightly since the introduction of Free Personal and Nursing Care. In 2007-08 there were around 31,730 older people in Care Homes, which fell to 30,670 in 2016-17.

The number of self-funding Care Home residents who receive FPNC payments, in contrast, has risen slightly over the time period. In 2007-08 there were 9,510 self-funders receiving the FPC payment, which rose to 9,870 in 2016-17.

The proportion of long-stay residents receiving FPC payments has shown little change since 2007-08, rising from 30% to 32%.

Three-fifths (60%) of self-funding Care Home residents received the FNC payment in addition to the FPC payment in 2016-17, a figure largely stable since 2007-08. The number of self-funders (all ages) receiving Free Nursing Care has not changed significantly between 2007-08 and 2016-17.

Table 1: Care Home residents, 2007-08 to 2016-17

	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
No. of long-stay residents (aged 65+)	31,730	31,530	31,470	31,020	30,750	30,260	30,800	30,520	30,800	30,670
No. of self-funders (aged 65+) receiving FPC	9,510	9,580	9,330	9,490	9,660	9,520	9,780	9,870	9,820	9,870
No. of self-funders (all ages) receiving FNC	6,130	6,180	5,960	6,000	6,050	6,130	6,030	6,080	6,040	5,940
Self-funders (aged 65+) receiving FPC as % of all long-stay residents	30%	30%	30%	31%	31%	31%	32%	32%	32%	32%
% self-funders (aged 65+) receiving FPC also receiving FNC	64%	65%	64%	63%	63%	64%	62%	62%	62%	60%

Source: Community Care Quarterly Key Monitoring Return. Figures up to 2011-12 are yearly averages. From 2012-13, figures are based on the final quarter of the year only. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2.2 Home Care

Prior to 1st July 2002, people aged 65 and over could be charged for personal care services provided in their own home. Personal care services are now free, although individuals can still be charged for domestic services such as help with shopping or housework, subject to a financial assessment.

Figure 4: Home Care clients, 2007-08 to 2016-17

Figure 4 (above) and Table 2 show that the number of older people receiving Home Care services in Scotland decreased from 55,340 in 2007-08 to 48,810 in 2016-17. Over the same period, the number of Home Care clients receiving personal care services increased by 8% from 42,260 clients to 45,780. However, this figure has shown a 2% decrease over the last year.

The number of hours of personal care provided in Scotland increased from a weekly average of 299,400 hours in 2007-08 to 405,000 in 2016-17, a 35% increase. Overall, the average weekly hours of personal care provided per client has increased from 7.1 hours in 2007-08 to 8.8 hours in 2016-17. The average weekly hours of personal care provided per client rose slightly since last year, despite the decrease in the number of clients, which may indicate a greater focus on clients with higher levels of need.

Table 2: Home Care clients, 2007-08 to 2016-17

	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Home Care clients (aged 65+)	55,340	54,720	53,660	51,730	51,120	50,370	50,450	50,160	49,430	48,810
Home Care clients (aged 65+) receiving Personal Care	42,260	44,200	46,660	46,950	47,010	47,170	47,810	46,750	46,910	45,780
Average weekly hours of Personal Care at home	299,400	333,100	361,700	371,900	389,000	400,500	409,500	401,600	405,400	405,000
% Home Care clients (aged 65+) receiving Personal Care	76%	81%	87%	91%	92%	94%	95%	93%	95%	94%
Average weekly hours of personal care at home per person	7.1	7.5	7.8	7.9	8.3	8.5	8.6	8.6	8.6	8.8

Source: Community Care Quarterly Key Monitoring Return 2004-05 to 2008-09, Home Care Census 2009-10 to 2011-12, Social Care Survey 2012-13 onwards.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Average weekly hours (based on last week of final quarter) are rounded to the nearest 100.

In recent years there has been a shift away from long-term care provided in Care Homes and hospitals towards more care being provided in people's own homes. Figure 5 (over page) shows that at the same time there has been an increase in the proportion of clients receiving personal care services. In 2016-17, 94% of all Home Care clients received personal care services compared with 76% in 2007-08.

Home Care statistics are now published as part of the Social Care Survey. The latest figures, for 2016-17, are available from: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/12/3849

Figure 5: Change in proportion of all Home Care clients aged 65+ receiving personal care, 2007-08 to 2016-17

2.3 Extension of Free Personal Care to people aged under 65

The Scottish Government has committed to the extension of Free Personal Care to all people aged under 65 who are assessed as needing it, by 1 April 2019. This means that people under age 65 who are found eligible by their local authorities as needing personal care at home or in a care home, will no longer pay for this service. In 2016-17, there were approximately 7,630 people aged 18-64 who received personal care services as part of a home care package (this does not include people who received personal care through Self-Directed Support only). These people received an average of 20 weekly hours of personal care, much higher than those aged 65 and over.

As part of the monitoring of the extension of free personal and nursing care policy, future publications will include information on the number of people aged under 65 receiving personal care at home and in care homes, as well as the associated expenditure.

More information can be found in the Scottish Government's "Feasibility Study into Extending Free Personal Care to Under 65s": http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/09/6559.