Free Personal and Nursing Care: Methodology and background information, 2022-23

Variables collected in the Quarterly Monitoring Return

Data are collected through the Scottish Government’s Quarterly Monitoring Return, which are sent to all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities, measuring eight variables relating to Care Homes and Care at Home. Data are collected on numbers of clients, hours of care provided, and cost of care provided. These eight variables are:

Care Homes:

• Table 1 (a) - Number of long-stay residents supported in Care Homes on the last day of the quarter
• Table 1 (b) - Number of self-funders receiving FPC and FNC in Care Homes in the last week of the quarter
• Table 1 (c) - Number of self-funders receiving FPC only in Care Homes in the last week of the quarter

Care at Home:

• Table 2 (a) - Number of clients receiving Care at Home in the last week of the quarter
• Table 2 (b) - Amount of Care at Home provided (hours) in the last week of the quarter. Note: not published.
• Table 2 (c) - Number of clients receiving personal Care at Home in the last week of the quarter
• Table 2 (d) – Estimated cost of personal care provided to those counted in table 2 (c) in the last week of the quarter (£ value)
• Table 2 (e) – Estimated number of hours of personal care provided to those counted in table 2 (c) in the last week of the quarter (hours)

The table numbers above refer to tables in the Quarterly Monitoring Return.

Calculated variables:

The above eight collected variables are then used to calculate additional measures, as detailed here:

• Table 2 (Number of self-funders aged 65+ within Care Homes receiving FPNC payments)
• Table 8 (Total estimated expenditure on Free Personal and Nursing Care payments in Care Homes)
• Table 9 (Estimated expenditure on FPC in Care Homes)
• Table 10 (Estimated expenditure on FNC in Care Homes)

Table numbers here refer to publication tables, which are released together with the FPNC publication each year. Since 2021-22, separate Excel workbooks have been produced for age 18-64 and 65+. The correspondence between publication table numbers and table numbers in the Quarterly Monitoring Return is shown in Figure 2 at the end of this section.

Several of the below calculations involve multiplying by 365/28 (= 365/7/4) to convert from a weekly to a quarterly figure. Dividing by 7 converts from a weekly to daily figure (7 days in a week); multiplying by 365 converts this daily figure to annual (365 days in a year); then dividing by 4 converts from an annual to a quarterly figure.

Calculation of Table 2: Self-funders in Care Homes receiving FPNC payments

Table 2 (Care Homes - Numbers of self-funders within Care Homes receiving FPNC payments) is calculated as the sum of tables 3 and 4:

Note that data are not collected on those receiving free nursing care without Free Personal Care (e.g. FNC only). However, these numbers can be assumed to be very small, making the above a good approximation.

Calculation of Table 8: Estimated expenditure on FPNC payments in Care Homes

Table 8 (Estimated expenditure on FPNC payments in Care Homes) is calculated as the sum of Tables 9 and 10:

Calculation of Table 9: Estimated expenditure on FPC in Care Homes

Table 9 (Estimated expenditure on FPC in Care Homes) is calculated by multiplying the weekly FPC payment amount (for 2022-23, £212.85. For past years, please see Figure 1 in Appendix 1: FPNC Payment Amounts) by the number of self-funders receiving FPC payments in Care Homes. Since a negligible number of residents receive FNC without FPC, this is taken to be the total number of residents receiving FPNC payments – calculated in Table 2 above.

The result is then scaled up to a quarterly figure by multiplying by 365/28. The annual total is taken as the sum of the four quarterly figures for that year.

Calculation of Table 10: Estimated expenditure on FNC in Care Homes

Table 10 (Estimated expenditure on FNC in Care Homes) is calculated by multiplying the weekly FNC payment amount (for 2022-23, £95.80; For past years, please see Figure 1 in Appendix 1: FPNC Payment Amounts) by the number of self-funders receiving both FNC and FPC payments (Publication Table 3). It is assumed that the number of residents receiving FNC without FPC is negligibly small, so Table 3 approximates to the total number of residents receiving FNC payments.

The result is then scaled up to a quarterly figure by multiplying by 365/28. The annual total is taken as the sum of the four quarterly figures for that year.

Correspondence between collected and published variable names

Table numbers and variable names differ slightly between the Quarterly Monitoring Return (where the data are collected) and the tables accompanying the FPNC publication.

The correspondence between collected and published variable names and table numbers for 2022-23 is shown in Figure 2 below:

Figure 2: Correspondence between collected and published variable names and table numbers for 2022-23