Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland

Scotland's Chief Statistician has recently published 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 include:

Care Homes

• The amount of money spent by Local Authorities on Free Personal care and Free Nursing Care (FPNC) payments to self-funding residents in Care Homes has increased each year from £86 million in 2003-04 to £108 million in 2010-11. This 25.5% increase reflects the increasing number of self-funders and the annual increases in the FPNC payments from April 2008.
• This increase in expenditure is partly due to:
  • The number of self-funders in Care Homes receiving free personal care has increased from 8,350 in 2003-04 to 9,480 in 2010-11, an increase of 13.5%.
  • The number of self-funders receiving free nursing care has also increased from 5,270 in 2003-04 to 6,000 in 2010-11, an increase of 13.9%.

Home Care

• The amount of money spent by Local Authorities on providing personal care services to older people in their own homes has risen steadily each year from £133 million in 2003-04 to £342 million in 2010-11. This 157.6% increase in spend reflects the fact that an increasing proportion of older people are cared for at home, rather than in hospital or care homes;  that increasingly home care workers are providing personal care services rather than domestic services; and that people living at home have increasing  levels of need.
• This increase in expenditure is due to:
  • The number of people in receipt of free personal care at home has increased from 32,870 in 2003-04 to 46,720 in 2010-11, an increase of 42.1%.
  • The proportion of older home care clients requiring personal care services has also increased. In 2003-04, 56.9% of clients received personal care services. This has increased to 90.3% in 2010-11.
  • The average hours provided each week has increased from 6.9 hours in 2003-04 to 7.9 hours in 2010-11.