Social care: eligibility criteria and waiting times Scotland 2022-2023

Time between first contact and completion of assessment

The time interval for new clients, from first contact to completion of a community care assessment, is recorded for each of the eligibility categories. As part of the Joint Statement of Intent and the development of the National Care Service (NCS), Scottish Government and COSLA have committed to the “overhaul of the current mechanism of eligibility criteria to ensure an approach to adult social care that is based on human rights and needs”.

This will mean significantly changing the way care and support services are designed, so that prevention and early intervention is prioritised and people can move easily between different types of care and support as their needs change.

This data provides insight into the variation across Scotland and will inform any future decisions on a possible national standard.

As shown in Figure 3, for the 19 local authorities that submitted data each year on older clients (aged 65 and over) there was a decline in the percentage, from 29% in 2015 to 19% in 2019, waiting more than six weeks. This has since increased again and has remained at 24% in three of the last four years. The peak in 2020 coincides with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions brought in to protect vulnerable people, and there is a corresponding decline, to 53% in 2020, of the percentage of older clients receiving care within two weeks.

For the 20 local authorities which submitted data on younger clients each year (aged 18 to 64), the waiting times show similar trends to that of older clients, with a peak of 42% of younger clients waiting more than six weeks in 2020, which then fell to stand at 35% in each of the last three years.

See accompanying dataset for local authority data and to determine which local authorities responded every year.

Figure 3. In 2020 there is a rise in the proportion of all adults waiting more than six weeks between first contact and completion of a community care assessment

Time intervals recorded for clients in the all eligibility criteria category between first contact and completion of a community care assessment, in local authorities that responded every year, Scotland, 2014 - 2023

Source: Scottish Government Quarterly Monitoring Return

Notes:

1. For clients aged 65 and over, 19 local authorities responded every year between 2014 and 2023, and for clients aged 18 to 64, 20 local authorities responded. Please see data completeness in the accompanying dataset for which local authorities.

Time between completion of assessment and service delivery

The time interval from completion of a community care assessment to delivery of a relevant service for new personal care clients is recorded for each of the eligibility categories (detailed New Personal Care clients section). There is a six week waiting time target to deliver Personal Care for all adults (from 2019 onwards, previously only older clients aged 65 and over) who have been assessed in the critical or substantial needs categories.

As shown in Figure 4, for the 16 local authorities which submitted data each year on older clients (aged 65 and over) there has been a steady increase in the percentage waiting more than six weeks for service delivery, from 5% in 2014 to 14% in 2021. There is a corresponding decline in the percentage of older clients receiving service delivery in up to two weeks from 78% in 2015 to 60 in 2023. However, the percentage of older people receiving service delivery before their care assessment was completed has gradually increased from 12% in 2014, to 26% in 2022, before falling slightly to 18% in 2023.

For the 20 local authorities which submitted data on younger clients (aged 18 to 64) each year, there has been a decline in the percentage, from 69% in 2019 to 59% in 2023, of people receiving a personal care service prior to completion of the assessment or less than or equal to two weeks.

There is a target of providing personal care to adults assessed as having critical or substantial needs within six weeks of their assessment. In 2014, 96% of older clients in critical or substantial need received a personal care service within 6 weeks of an assessment, this been decreasing and stood at 85% in 2023. For those aged 18-64, in 2019, 85% of clients received a personal care service within 6 weeks of an assessment and this has decreased to 71% in 2023.

See accompanying dataset for local authority data and to determine which local authorities responded every year.

Figure 4. The percentage of adults receiving a new service in less than 2 weeks has been declining but increased again in the latest year.

Time intervals recorded for clients in the all eligibility criteria category between completion of assessment and new personal service delivery, in local authorities that responded every year, Scotland, 2014 – 2023

Source: Scottish Government Quarterly Monitoring Return

Notes:

1. For clients aged 65 and over, 16 local authorities responded, and for clients aged 18 to 64, 20 local authorities responded every year between 2014 and 2023. Please see data completeness in the accompanying dataset for which local authorities.