Coronavirus (COVID-19): isolate and support data - November 2020

Isolate and support data – latest management information covering the period 2 to 29 November 2020

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 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 28 and all 32 local authorities, depending on the component, and may be subject to revision by the local authorities.

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 24,667 initial calls during this period to ask people whether they needed support and to assess their support needs. Local authorities also made 4,431 follow-up calls to people during their isolation period to check whether their needs were being met. 

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.

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 16,093 times with requests for information or support. In addition, there were 2,554 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

Out of all proactive successful contacts made by local authorities, 21,387 (73%) needed no support.

There were 47,745 inbound or proactive contacts. Of these, 11,899 (25%) required information only. 

When support needs were identified, referrals were made:

• to the Self-Isolation Support Grant (2,468, 5%)
• for help and support with food (1,968, 4%)
• to the third sector (1,862, 4%)
• for other financial advice (1,686, 4%)
• for help with pharmacy deliveries (1,287, 3%)
• for support with isolation e.g. befriending support (161, 0.3%)

Overall, there were 21,331 onward referrals made, including provision of information. Referrals may be made to local authority teams or to partner organisations.

Percentages may add up to more than 100% as more than one kind of support may be provided per contact. 

Further information

The next monthly update will be 9 February 2021. We will provide an attached spreadsheet of the data in future publications.

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.