Coronavirus (COVID-19): isolate and support data - October 2021
Management information provided by local authorities relating to support to isolate and support for people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Isolate and support data – latest management information covering the period 4 to 31 October 2021
The Scottish Government provides local authorities with funding to support those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic and for those who need to isolate after being contacted by Test and Protect.
Monthly management information is now available providing data on:
- proactive calls and text messages made by local authorities to cases or contacts who must isolate after being contacted by Test and Protect (as part of a national policy of support to isolate)
- inbound contacts made to local authorities via direct local authority lines or the National Assistance Helpline, where people are looking for advice or support
- support referrals made by local authorities to those in need due to having to isolate as a case or contact, or more generally because they are in need during the pandemic
Not every local authority provides every component of this data. This is based on information from between 30 and all 32 local authorities (23-30 for text message indicators), depending on the component and week, and may be subject to revision by the local authorities. Data on text messages was collected for the first time for week ending 1 August 2021.
Outbound proactive calls
People who are contacted by Test and Protect as needing to self-isolate can choose to allow their contact details to be shared with their local authority for support to isolate.
Local authorities made 15,724 successful initial calls and sent 4,029 initial text messages during this period to ask people whether they needed support and to assess their support needs. Local authorities also made 716 successful follow-up calls and sent 16 follow-up text messages to people during their isolation period to check whether their needs were being met. Out of all proactive calls made by local authorities, 13,637 (83%) needed no support.
The initial calls should be made to unique individuals each time. The follow up calls are made to the same set of people as called initially where needed/consented to ensure they are receiving the support they need during self-isolation. Text messages may be sent in place of, or in addition to, attempts to call individuals.
Inbound contacts
The public can also contact their local authority themselves, via telephone, email, contact form etc., to ask for help, advice, and support during COVID-19.
During this period local authorities were contacted 5,866 times with requests for information or support. In addition, there were 2,031 contacts to local authorities relating to Test and Protect, after an individual has been asked to isolate by Test and Protect as a case or contact.
These contacts may not necessarily be from unique individuals each time.
Support
From all contacts (proactive or inbound, excluding text messages), 3,946 (16%) required information only.
When support needs were identified, they included:
- referrals to the Self-Isolation Support Grant: 3,724 (15%)*
- referrals for help and support with food: 1,118 (5%)
- referrals for other financial advice: 1,612 (7%)
- referrals for help with pharmacy deliveries: 125 (1%)
- referrals for support with isolation e.g. befriending support: 69 (<1%)
- referrals for transport to vaccination (local authority provision is only one aspect of a wider transport support service): 42 (<1%)
- referrals for isolation accommodation: 3 (<1%)
- provision of isolation accommodation: 0
- 979 (15%) of the above referrals were made to the third sector.
Overall, from a total of 24,337 of all inbound and proactive contacts (excluding text messages), information was provided or onward referral made in 10,639* instances. Referrals may be made to local authority teams or to partner organisations.
The percentages of each type of support are calculated out of the total successful contacts. Percentages may add up to more than 100% as more than one kind of support may be provided per contact, or less as not all contacts may require support. Information about referrals to vaccination transportation and accommodation referrals and provision began to be collected in February 2021.
*In January 2022, the figure for Self-isolation support grant referrals was revised from 3,469 (14%) to 3,724 (15%) following a revision by one local authority. This also affected the total for referral/support (revised from 10,384 to 10,639).
Further information
The next monthly update will be 11 January 2021. A spreadsheet of the data from 2 November 2020 to 31 October 2021 can be found below.
The data reported are management information based on a range of operational systems. While checks are completed before publication to ensure data robustness, due to the speed of reporting these data are not currently subject to the full range of processes and quality assurance that would be required for Official Statistics.
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