Free Personal Care costs on the rise
Scotland's Chief Statistician has published statistics on the number of people benefiting from free personal care and free nursing care in Scotland and how much Local Authorities are spending on personal care services.
Age Scotland believes that given the joint challenges posed for the Scottish Government, local authorities and their health and social work departments by an ageing population and the increasing costs of care, the case for an integrated health and social care service - underpinned by a care model that ensures equity of standards across the country - is now overwhelming.
Some of the notable statistics included in the report are:
Care Homes
The amount of money spent by councils on Free Personal & Nursing Care (FPNC) payments to self-funding residents in care homes has increased from £86 million in 2003-04 to £108 million in 2009-10. This 25.6 per cent increase reflects the increasing number of self-funders up until 2008-09 and the annual increases in the FPNC payments from April 2008. All of this is new money arising from the FPNC policy.
This increase in expenditure is due to:
•the number of self-funders in care homes receiving free personal care increasing from 8,350 in 2003-04 to 9,330 in 2009-10, a growth of 11.7 per cent
•the number of self-funders receiving free nursing care increasing from 5,270 in 2003-04 to 5,980 in 2009-10, a rise of 13.4 per cent
Home Care
The amount of money spent by councils on providing personal care services to older people in their own homes has risen steadily each year from £133 million in 2003-04 to £318 million in 2009-10. This 139 per cent increase reflects the fact that an increasing proportion of older people are cared for at home, rather than in hospitals 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 growing from 32,870 in 2003-04 to 46,260 in 2009-10, an increase of 40.7 per cent
•The proportion of older home care clients requiring personal care services increasing from 57 per cent in 2003-04 to 86 per cent in 2009-10
•The average hours provide each week going up from 6.9 hours in 2003-04 to 7.6 hours in 2009-10
Age Scotland spokesman Lindsay Scott says:
"We know that the vast majority of older people in Scotland desire to stay in their own homes for as long as possible and the more than doubling of the spend on free personal care since its introduction nine years ago is a consequence we have to accept.
"As a nation we must acknowledge that with our ageing population, the costs will inevitably rise, but when the savings incurred by moving care provision from residential settings and hospitals into people's own homes are factored in, Free Personal and Nursing Care is not simply the hallmark of a caring, compassionate society, it is also cost-effective.
"We however believe that further savings can be made without compromising the care or ignoring the wishes of the country's older people. The integration of health and social care must now be a priority for the Scottish Government."
Download the report in full here.
