Scottish Care Homes Census

The census is contained in one form consisting of two parts:

• Part 1: collects information on gross weekly charge and number of residents, admissions, discharges and deaths throughout the census period. This will include long stay, respite and short stay residents. This data is completed at the end of the census period.
• Part 2: collects individual resident based data for each long stay resident who was resident at any time between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Types of Residents

For the purposes of the census residents are classified as long-stay, respite or short-stay.

Long-stay residents

Long-stay residents are those whose intention when they entered the home was to stay as a permanent resident, regardless of how long they stayed.

It may be that some residents enter the home with the intention of only staying for a short time. If you have any residents whose intention was only to stay for a short time but have been resident for more than six weeks, then these residents should be counted as long-stay residents for the purposes of this census.

Respite residents

Respite residents are those whose predominant reason for admission was to provide respite or holiday relief for the resident and for their carer. Periods of respite will normally be short, overnight or for a weekend or a few weeks at most.

Short-stay residents

Residents should be counted as short-stay if:

1. their intention at admission was to stay less than six weeks; and
2. at the time of the census or their discharge they did in fact stay less than six weeks; and;
3. the predominant reason for admission was not respite care.

• Service Name and Address
• Service Contact for Census
• Weekly Charges
• Number of Residents – Year Start (Long Stay, Respite, Short Stay, Total)
• Number of Admissions (Long Stay, Respite, Short Stay, Total)
• Number of Discharges (Long Stay, Respite, Short Stay, Total)
• Number of Deaths (Long Stay, Respite, Short Stay, Total)
• Number of Residents – Year End (Long Stay, Respite, Short Stay, Total)

More details on some of these data items are outlined below.

Name and address details for the care home

The address details for your care home have been taken directly from the Care Inspectorate register and cannot be amended in the eForm. If you spot an error then you should contact the Care Inspectorate Contact Centre on 0345 600 9527.

Gross weekly charge by source of funding

The gross weekly charge is requested for long-stay residents in the following four categories;

• Residents without nursing care, mainly funded by Local Authority
• Residents without nursing care mainly funded by private means
• Residents with nursing care, mainly funded by Local Authority
• Residents with nursing care mainly funded by private means

Fees for publicly funded residents are covered in the National Care Home Contract (NCHC) which was developed and introduced in 2007/08. The rationale for developing the NCHC was to standardise the terms, conditions and fees for publicly funded clients.

The gross weekly charge should be provided for the week which includes 31 March 2024.

Gross Weekly Charge (for all funding sources)

The gross weekly charge is the total amount charged for a particular care home place for the week which includes 31 March 2024. This includes any money received from the resident, relations or third parties. It also includes any money received from Local Authorities or Health Boards whether for personal care, nursing care or accommodation costs.

In order to work out the average gross weekly charge, you need to add up the gross weekly charge for all residents as at census date 31 March 2024 and divide by the number of residents as at census date 31 March 2024.

For example, if you have 3 residents and their gross weekly charges are £500, £550 and £550:

1. You need to add each of these charges together, to get a total gross weekly charge. (Total gross weekly charge = £500 + £550 + £550 = £1,600)
2. Then divide this total of £1,600 by the 3 residents to get the average gross weekly charge. (Average gross weekly charge = £1,600 ÷ 3 = £533)
3. So the Average gross weekly charge is equal to the total of all gross weekly charges, divided by the number of residents.

Average gross weekly charge = total of all gross weekly charges / number of residents.

Number of residents, admissions, discharges and deaths

The forms ask for the total number of admissions, discharges and deaths throughout the census period. This part of the form includes all residents: long-stay, respite and short-stay. The total number of residents at the end of the census period should equal the number of residents on the 1 April of the previous year plus number of residents admitted to your service during the year minus the number of deaths and discharges during the year. If the numbers are different the system will ask you to check the information before you are able to submit.

If a resident has only temporarily gone into hospital and their room is still available for them in the care home and they are still paying for their care home place then they should not be recorded as a discharge and admission. If a resident goes into hospital and subsequently gives up their care home place then they should be counted as a discharge.

If a resident goes into hospital and subsequently dies in the hospital then for this census they should be counted as a ‘discharge’ to hospital and not as a death.

The second part of the form looks at information on individual residents. Please note this part of the form should only be completed for residents designated as long-stay. If all your residents are short-stay or respite then answer “no” to the question “Do you have long-stay residents?” and you will not need to fill in this part of the form. For most of the questions on individual residents, there are a series of drop down lists.

You should enter data for any long-stay residents who were living in the care home at any point during the financial year from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024.

For each long-stay resident you will need to record the following data items:

• CHI number / reference number
• Gender
• Surname
• Forename
• Date of Birth
• Ethnic Origin
• Resident mainly or wholly funded by
• Receiving free personal care payment (for private funded residents)
• Receiving free nursing care payment (for private funded residents)
• Funding local authority (for local authority funded residents)
• Whether resident requires nursing care
• Resident Characteristics (e.g. Dementia, Visual impairment, etc.)
• Date of admission
• Where resident admitted from
• Postcode sector of previous address
• Discharge Date
• Where resident discharged to

More details on some of these data items are outlined below.

CHI number / reference number

This field allows you to identify the residents whose details you have included. You can enter the CHI number or a reference number of your own choice that will allow you to identify a specific resident. The Community Health Index (CHI) is a population register, which is used for patients resident in Scotland for health care purposes. A CHI number can usually be found on printed appointment letters or prescriptions.

Surname / Forename

Please enter the resident’s surname and forename(s).

Please enter the full date of birth for the resident. Date of birth is used to calculate the age of each resident.

Ethnic Origin

The Scottish Government has a clear commitment to equal opportunities under the Scotland Act 1998. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 puts a general statutory duty on public bodies including the Scottish Government to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equality and good race relations. For this reason, it is important that the Scottish Government is able to monitor the impact of its social work services to ensure that it meets the needs of all care home clients and that no one group is at a disadvantage.

Financial Support

You will be asked to enter information on the resident’s major source of funding. If the resident is supported by a combination of funding sources please choose the single category which provides the majority of their funding.

If a resident is mainly funded by private means you will be asked whether or not they receive free nursing care or free personal care.

If a resident is mainly publicly funded you will be asked which Local Authority mainly or wholly funds their care.

For the financial support data items, the information provided should refer to the situation as at 31 March 2024. If residents have died or been discharged prior to the 31 March 2024, then the information should refer to the financial support situation on the date of death or discharge.

Type of Care (Resident Characteristics)

You will be asked to provide information on all the characteristics which describe the resident’s current or most recent need for care. The characteristics are ordered in the system in alphabetical order. It is important to go through the whole list when answering the question. Residents may have a number of different characteristics and their characteristics can also change over time. If a resident’s characteristic has changed in the census period you should update in the system.

When answering the questions on resident characteristics, please read the following definitions of each category:

Nursing Care

Anyone who requires care which can only be given by a qualified nurse or under the supervision of a qualified nurse.

Visual Impairment

Anyone who is blind or partially sighted. If the sight problem can be resolved by wearing glasses or contact lenses then the person should not be listed as having a visual impairment.

Hearing Impairment

Anyone with profound or partial deafness or other difficulties in hearing. If the hearing problem can be resolved by the use of a hearing aid then the person should not be listed as having a hearing impairment.

Acquired Brain Injury

People with an acquired brain injury usually have a complex mixture of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural, disorders or difficulties. This may affect how the person perceives the world and their ability to remember, concentrate reason and judge. The person’s emotional state may be disturbed; personality, behaviour, communication and relationships are also frequently altered. Mobility, sensation, vision, hearing and balance, smell and taste, respiration, heartbeat, bowel and bladder control may also be affected. There are many causes including damage to the brain through head injury, stroke, lack of oxygen, infection, or other causes.

Other Physical Illness or Chronic Illness (only for residents aged under 65)

Physical disabilities have many causes in chronic illness, accidents, and impaired function of the nervous system, which, in particular physical or social environments result in long term difficulties in mobility, hand function, personal care, other physical activities, communication, and participation. Include; limb loss, severe arthritis, diseases of the circulatory system (including heart disease).

Please note: do not select this category if the following has already been selected: visual impairment, hearing impairment, neurological conditions or acquired brain injury.

Dementia (medically diagnosed)

Only include residents where Dementia has been diagnosed by a doctor. Dementia is defined as global deterioration of intellectual functioning. Normally a progressive condition resulting in cognitive impairment ranging from some memory loss and confusion to complete dependence on others for all aspects of personal care.

Please note: only one of the dementia boxes should be ticked for a particular resident.

Dementia (not medically diagnosed)

Include here people who staff believe to have dementia, but for whom no medical diagnosis has been made. Exclude confusion due to other causes e.g. medicines, severe depression.

Please note: only one of the dementia boxes should be ticked for a particular resident.

Neurological Conditions

Neurological conditions result from damage to the brain, spinal column or nerves, caused by illness or injury. These include epilepsy, cerebrovascular diseases including stroke, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy. See the World Health Organisation’s website and the website for the Neurological Alliance of Scotland for more information.

Please note: do not tick this box for people with Dementia or Acquired Brain Injury unless they also have another neurological condition.

Mental Health problems (other than dementia)

Mental health problems are characterised by one or more symptoms including disturbance of mood (e.g. depression, anxiety), delusions, hallucinations, disorder of thought, sustained or repeated irrational behaviour. Include: people assessed as having mental health problems whether or not the symptoms are being controlled by medical treatment.

Please note: do not select this category if the following has already been selected: dementia, alcohol related problems or drug related problems.

Learning Disability

A learning disability is a significant, lifelong condition which has three facets:

• significant impairment of intellectual functioning resulting in a reduced ability to understand new or complex information; and
• significant impairment of adaptive/social functioning resulting in a reduced ability to cope independently; and
• which started before adulthood (before the age of 18) with a lasting effect on the individual’s development.

Alcohol related problems

Any person who experiences social, psychological, physical, or legal problems related to intoxication and/or regular excessive consumption and/or dependence as a consequence of their use of alcohol.

Drugs related problems

Any person who experiences social, psychological, physical or legal problems related to intoxication and/ or regular excessive consumption and/or dependence as a consequence of their use of drugs or chemical substances.

None of these characteristics

Any person with none of the characteristics listed above.