About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides a summary of all people in Scotland receiving social care from any services where it has been funded (partially or completely) by the Local Authority. It is worth noting that people involved in choosing and controlling their support through self-directed support options and who do not receive any of these services from the Local Authority are also included in the social care count. A demographic breakdown of the people receiving social care services or support has been provided along with information on the services received during financial year 2022/23.

Main points

  • An estimated 1 in 25 people in Scotland were reported as receiving social care support and/or services at some point during 2022/23.
  • In 2022/23, the rate of females receiving social care was over one and half times that of males (females 605.8 compared to males 389.4 per 1,000 population).
  • Of people aged 85 & over receiving social care support and/or services in 2022/23, approximately seven out of every ten (71%) were female.
  • Out of those where ethnicity is known, about 98% of people receiving social care during 2022/23 were white (156,415).
  • In 2022/23, around 63% of people receiving social care services and/or support had a social worker (138,905) and about 52% were receiving technology enabled care (114,065).
Image caption People Supported through Social Care Services/Support as a rate per 1,000 population in Scotland (Estimated) 2017/18 to 2022/23

Background

Social care is provided to people to meet a diverse range of support needs and there are choices about how this support is delivered. The information recorded about the people receiving social care in its various forms contributes to understanding this diversity. The national Source social care dataset includes data on remote monitoring, care at home, care homes and self-directed support. It also provides summary data on allocated social workers or support workers, day care and meals.

Not all partnerships were able to provide data therefore estimates are included within the trend analysis. Further information on data completeness and estimation are provided in the dashboards.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be February 2025.

General enquiries

If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact Laura Fleming at phs.source@phs.scot.

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If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.

Requesting other formats and reporting issues

If you require publications or documents in other formats, please email phs.otherformats@phs.scot.

To report any issues with a publication, please email phs.generalpublications@phs.scot.

Older versions of this publication

Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.

Last updated: 21 March 2024
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