Scottish homecare costs rise
The cost of providng free care for the elderly in Scotland has risen by 11 per cent in the last year to a total of £358 million, with expenditure on elderly people living in their own homes up 15 per cent in the last year, and almost double what it was four years ago.
The figures appear to support those who claim that the policy is unsustainable in the long term, especially if public spending falls in coming years. In 2003-04, when the flagship policy was launched by the Labour-Lib Dem coalition, the cost of free care at home was £129 million a year. Last year, 2007-08, it was £257 million.
In the home service’s four year history, the number of people in in the scheme rose from 32,870 to 44,660, an increase of 36 per cent. The cost of providing free care for those paying their own way in care homes in Scotland passed the £100 million mark for the first time — 4 per cent up in a year and 22 per cent higher than in 2004, the first full year of the policy.
Last week’s Queen’s Speech presented plans to introduce free personal care in England. Gordon Brown hailed the move as a major breakthrough but Lord Lipsey, the Labour peer, described it as “a demolition job on the national budget”.
The policy was introduced in Scotland in 2002 to provide free personal and nursing care for those at home and in care homes. Under the system, those over 65 and living at home are not charged for personal care services, but they can be charged for domestic services such as help with shopping.
Over 65s living in care homes and paying their own way can receive a weekly payment of £153 for personal care and £69 for nursing care, while paying other bills themselves.
In the first week of April 2009, there were 68,334 home care clients, the first year in which numbers have fallen. The number of over 65s receiving more than 10 hours per week was just over 18.1 clients per 1000 population. and this figure has been rising steadily since 1998. The average amount of care per client received in 2009 was 9.5 hours per week.
Shona Robison, the Public Health Minister, said, “These figures show an increasing proportion of the people who benefit from this policy are being cared for in their own homes — reflecting our policy of supporting older people to remain independent in their own homes as long as possible.”
The minister said the Scottish government had accepted recommendations by Lord Sutherland in his review of free personal and nursing care which included an commitment to an extra £40 million being spent annually.
She added, “We are absolutely committed to maintaining that progress and laying the foundations for Scotland’s older people to receive the support they need, not only now but in the years to come.
