National Care Service - social care support and service provision: evidence

Key findings

• An estimated 1 in 25 people of all ages in Scotland (231,925 people) were reported as receiving social care support and services at some point during 2020/21.
• In 2020/21, 84.4% of people of all ages receiving social care support and services were provided with Self-directed Support (SDS), up from 77.1% in 2017/18.
• The most frequent choice of SDS has consistently been Option 3, where the person chooses to allow the health and social care partnership to arrange their services. In 2020/21, Option 3 represented 88% of all people choosing an SDS option.
• In general, care at home hours have increased year-on-year between 2010 and 2021.
• The average (mean) hours of care at home per person per week has increased from around 9.5 hours in 2010 to 12.2 hours in 2021.
• In 2020/21, around 130,130 people were in receipt of a community alarm and/or telecare package. The number of people in receipt of community alarm and/or telecare packages increased year-on-year between 2015/16 and 2018/19 before declining in the most recent two years.
• As of 31 March 2021, there were 1,069 care homes for adults and 40,632 registered places. This compared to 1,329 care homes for adults and 42,810 registered places in 2011. A 20% and 5% reduction respectively.
• In 2020/21, there were 28,120 long-stay residents aged 65+ in care homes in Scotland, with 10,420 self-funding care home residents aged 65+ receiving Free Personal Care payments.