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 Demand for Care at Home Services.  This includes 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.  This data collection, which began in August 2021, is under development and work on the consistency of the recording of the information across Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) is ongoing.

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 over 6,200 on 3 July 2023.
• The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was just under 4,000 on 3 July 2023.

This is a line chart showing the trend in the estimated number of people waiting for a social care assessment in Scotland and the trend in the estimated number of people who have been assessed and are waiting for a care at home package. The estimated number of people waiting for an assessment fluctuated slightly between 9 January 2023 to 20 February between around 7,300 and 7,600 since then the numbers have generally decreased to around 6,200 on 3 July 2023. The estimated number of people waiting for a care at home package has generally decreased from around 5,400 on 9 January 2023 to around 4,000 on 3 July 2023.

Close

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

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, also called home care, home help or home support, is care tailored to the needs of an individual that is provided in a person’s own home. Packages of care can include support with personal care but also support with other tasks around the house (for example cleaning or meal preparation).

Care at Home services are planned and delivered by Health and Social Care Partnerships, 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.

Health and Social Care partnerships provide PHS with a weekly snapshot of the current demand for Care at Home services. The data includes information on the number of people requiring a social care assessment (excluding those waiting for specialist assessments) or waiting on the care at home service. Comparison between Partnerships is not advised as this data is under development and the services can vary in each area. Details of known issues are available in the Data Quality tab of the Care at Home Dashboard.