Section 5 - Large Scale Investigations

A Large Scale Investigation (LSI) is conducted when it is suspected that more than one adult in a given service may be at risk of harm. This may relate to adult residents in a care home, in supported accommodation, an NHS hospital or other facility, or those who receive services in their own home where those services are provided by one organisation to more than one different individuals. The risk of harm may be due to another resident, a member of staff, some failing or deficit in the management regime or in the environment of the establishment or service.

Number of LSIs reported

In 2025-26, 58 LSIs were reported to have been commenced. These occurred across 18 local authorities. The remaining 14 local authorities reported no LSIs being commenced during 2025-26.

The 58 LSIs reported in 2025-26 was an 18% increase from the 49 reported for 2024-25, but was 24% lower than the 76 reported in 2023-24 (figure 13).

Figure 13: There were 58 LSIs reported as commenced in 2025-26, an increase from the 49 reported in 2024-25 but a decrease from the 76 reported in 2023-24.

A bar chart showing the annual numbers of LSIs reported as commenced in Scotland from 2019-20 to 2025-26.

Location reported for LSIs

Local authorities can also report the location of an LSI within the ASP NMDS. In 2025-26, 33 LSIs, or 57% – more than half - were reported as happening in care homes. Most of the other LSIs in 2025-26 took place in support service settings, such as adult day care, care at home services, sheltered housing or small group living support (19 LSIs reported). There were also six LSIs reported in 2025-26 for other settings (figure 14).

Figure 14: In 2025-26, 33 LSIs were reported in care homes. This was an increase from the 22 reported in 2024-25.

A bar chart showing the annual numbers of LSIs reported per location in Scotland in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

In figure 14 above the following were the full category names in the ASP NMDS returns template:

• Support services: ‘Support services (adult day care, care at home, sheltered housing or small group living support, etc)’
• Community groups: ‘Community groups (religious settings etc)’
• NHS primary care: ‘NHS Primary Care (excl. Hospital) e.g. GP staff, dentists etc.’

That more than half of LSIs in 2025-26 were reported as happening in care homes appears to be consistent with historic trends. In the years before 2023-24 (i.e. before the introduction of the ASP NMDS), when data on LSIs was gathered by annual returns from the local authorities, local authorities could report on the number of LSIs commenced but not on their location. However, based on conversations with sector professionals, it is understood that in the years before 2023-24, care homes were the most common location for LSIs. 2024-25 was believed to be the first year since at least 2019-20 when care homes were the reported location for fewer than half of all LSIs, with 22 out of 49 (45%) reported for care homes that year.

Notes on data quality and comparison to previous years

Statistics on the total numbers of LSIs commenced in years from 2019-20 to 2021-22 were first published in the May 2023 ASP publication. Statistics for 2022-23 and 2023-24 were published for the first time in the 2024-25 ASP NMDS publication. The data for 2022-23 was collected using the same format of annual return as the data for 2019-20 to 2021-22 and therefore did not allow for the reporting of location. The data for 2023-24 was collected during the first year of implementation (‘Phase 1’) of the ASP NMDS.

The definition of an LSI in the Adult Support and Protection National Minimum Dataset (ASP NMDS) is consistent with the definition used in the previous annual ASP data collection. It is therefore possible to compare the total number of LSIs commenced in 2025-26 with those undertaken in years 2019-20 to 2022-23.