Adults who pay for their residential care in Scotland will be better off from April as a result of an increase in their allowances they receive for personal and nursing care.
The SNP Government will raise these allowances by 7.5%, well above inflation, in recognition of the increasing cost of care, particularly for people with dementia. The change is backed by £10.1 million in additional local authority funding.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman MSP said:
“I am pleased to confirm that we will increase the allowances paid to people who self-fund their residential care by 7.5%.
“Care home costs have risen above inflation and this is an important step in delivering necessary personal and nursing care. “
Kenneth Gibson MSP added:
“I know how helpful this funding increase will be. It will help ensure the highest standards of care and wellbeing for people who use adult social care, and support for their families, carers and the workforce.”
“I am also pleased that The Independent Review of Adult Social Care was published on 04 February as part of the SNP Government’s wider reforms to the way residential care is funded and delivered.”
The Review can be found here.
The Scottish Parliament legislated to ensure that adults of any age, no matter their condition, capital or income, assessed by their local authority as needing personal care, are entitled to receive free personal and nursing care.
Care homes residents with capital above the Capital Limit (currently £28,500) are known as self-funders. Local Authorities make payments to cover their personal care (currently £180 per week) and nursing care (currently at £81 per week) fees. These are paid directly to the residential care provider on a weekly basis.
Under the normal inflationary measure used to calculate allowances, these payments would have increased by 1.94% this year, so the 7.5% increase is almost four times higher. Recent annual increases are shown in the graphic.
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