People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services

About this release

This publication by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on the total number of individuals waiting for an assessment for social care services, the number of people waiting for a package of care at home and the number of hours of care that are being waited for. 

Main points

• The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment to enable them to live independently at home or in the community was just below 6,550 on 6 May 2024.
• The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was just below 3,150 on 6 May 2024.

This is a line chart with two lines, one showing the trend in the number of people waiting for a social care assessment and the second the trend in the number of people waiting for a care at home package. The charts present information from 30 October 2023 to 6 May 2024. In relation to the estimated number of people waiting on a social care assessment in the time period presented the number was stable between 30 October and 6 November 2023 (about 5,800) this was followed by an increase to 5,979 on 20 November 2023. The figures then fluctuated with a slight decrease to 5,926 on 18 December 2023 before generally increasing, with some fluctuation, to 6,944 on 26 February 2024. The estimated number of people waiting on an assessment then generally decreased, with some fluctuation, to 6,755 on 1 April 2024 followed by an increase to 6,862 on 8 April 2024. Since then, figures have decreased to 6,510 on 29 April 2024 with a small increase to 6,545 between then and 6 May. In relation to the estimated number of people waiting for a care at home package. In the time period presented there has generally been a downward trend, with some fluctuation, in the estimated number of people waiting on care at home from 3,918 people on 30 October 2023 to an estimated 3,135 people on 6 May 2024. Please note there was a definition change on 15 January 2024 which may have impacted the continuity of the figures of some of the health and social care partnerships included in the Scotland totals.

Close

Number of People waiting for a social care assessment or assessed people waiting for a care at home package in Scotland (estimated)¹

1. Please note that due to the data collection being paused over the festive period there are no data for 25 December 2023 or 1 January 2024 in the chart.

Background

Local Authorities provide social care services to enable people to live independently and at home or in a homely setting in their community. This includes people who are frail, have long term conditions or disabilities.

Care at Home services are planned and delivered by Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), and are delivered through Local Authority in-house teams, independent providers, and the Third Sector. Each Partnership plans its services based on the needs of the local population and on the existing support services available in the Local Authority, such as housing services. Therefore, the services that come under the heading of Care at Home varies across the country.

HSCPs provide PHS with a weekly snapshot of the number of people waiting on a social care assessment and the number of people waiting on Care at Home services. Details of known data issues are available in the Data Quality tab of the People requiring a social care assessment and Care at Home services Dashboard. Comparison between Partnerships should be treated with caution as the services can vary in each area.

PHS has worked in collaboration with the Scottish Government and HSCPs to clarify the definitions of the items in this data collection to improve the consistency of recording. The definition changes came into effect from 15 January 2024 and as a result figures presented for some HSCPs will differ from information presented prior to this date. For more information on the definition changes please see the definition tab of the dashboard and the metadata document. The measures presented in this publication have not changed and figures using the revised definitions are presented in the charts alongside the historical data collected using the old definitions.

Please note prior February 2024 this publication was titled Demand for Care at Home Services.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 25 June 2024.