People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services

About this release

This monthly publication by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents the latest statistics on the total number of people waiting for an assessment of their need for social care services, the number of people waiting for a care at home package following an assessment and the weekly number of hours of care they are waiting for as at 5 January 2026.

The Social Care Data Intelligence Programme Board (SCDIPB), consisting of representatives from across the social care sector, are leading efforts to modernise the national social care data landscape. To support this work we have previously advised that there would be a change in the frequency of this data collection but not in the monthly reporting. This is the first publication with the change in the frequency of the data collection from a snapshot every week to a snapshot on the first Monday of each month. Please see metadata document for further details.

When interpreting the Scotland level figures, consideration needs to be given to the completeness of the data submitted as not all Local Authorities can provide information for every item in the data collection.

Scotland figures are therefore labelled in this summary and in the analyses in the dashboard to clarify what is included and whether estimation of missing data has been undertaken. "Scotland (Estimated)" presents totals where all Local Authorities are usually able to provide the data item required for the analysis and PHS will estimate any missing data submissions. This provides an overall national figure. "Scotland (All Areas Submitted)" presents totals when there are Local Authorities who have never been able to provide the data item required for the analysis, therefore PHS cannot provide an estimated figure, and this means the total will underestimate the true Scotland figure.

Main points

• The number of people in Scotland (all areas submitted) waiting on a social care assessment for a package of care was 8,050 on 5 January 2026. This is an increase of just under 28% from the number of people waiting this time last year (6,310 on 6 January 2025).
• The number of people in Scotland (estimated) assessed and waiting for a care at home package was 3,374 on 5 January 2026. This is higher (7%) than the number of people waiting for a care at home package this time last year (3,163 on 6 January 2025).
• Of those people in Scotland (estimated) waiting for care at home following an assessment of their needs, the total number of weekly hours of care that they were waiting to receive was 30,311 as at 5 January 2026. This represents a decrease of 4% from the number of hours at this time last year (31,673 on 6 January 2025). Changes in the total number of hours will reflect the differing level of care packages required for those waiting at each time point.

This is a line chart with two lines, one showing the trend in the number of people waiting for a care at home package and the second the trend in the number of hours of care at home to be delivered. The chart presents information from 6 January 2025 to 5 January 2026. In relation to the estimated number of people waiting for a care at home package, overall in the period presented the number of people increased from an estimated 3,163 on 6 January 2025 to an estimated 3,398 on 5 January 2026. This increase was not consistent over the time period with a decrease between January to March 2025 then figures remained relatively stable to June 2025 before increasing in July 2025. Figures were then relatively stable to December 2025 with an increase in January 2026. In relation to the estimated number of hours of care at home still to be delivered, the number has fluctuated over the time period presented. The number of hours was 31,673 in January 2025 and 30,311 in January 2026. The highest number of hours of care still to be delivered was in November 2025 (32,149) and the lowest in May 2025 (26,423).

Close

Number of People assessed and waiting for a care at home package and the number of hours of care required for these care at home packages in Scotland (estimated)

Background

Local Authorities provide social care services to enable people to live independently and at home or in a homely setting in their community. This includes people who are frail, have long term conditions or disabilities. Packages of care at home can include support with personal care but also support with other tasks around the house (for example cleaning or meal preparation). Care at Home services are planned and delivered by Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), and are delivered through Local Authority in-house teams, independent providers, and the Third Sector. Each HSCP plans its services based on the needs of the local population and on the existing support services available in the Local Authority, such as housing services. Therefore, the type of services that come under the heading of Care at Home varies across the country.

Data quality

The statistics included in this publication are created from a weekly aggregate snapshot of the number of people waiting on a social care assessment, waiting on Care at Home services and the number of hours of care at home they are waiting for. Information is included in this publication from 7 November 2022. These statistics are published as management information as there is public interest in accessing these statistics.

Public Health Scotland has worked in collaboration with the Scottish Government and Local Authorities to clarify the definitions of the items in this data collection and improve the consistency of the recording. The definition changes came into effect from 15 January 2024 and as a result figures presented for some Local Authorities will differ from information presented prior to this date. For more information on the definition changes please see the definition tab of the dashboard and the metadata document.

A dashboard is provided as part of the release and presents information both at Scotland and Local Authority level. Comparison of figures between Local Authorities should be treated with caution and should be done in conjunction with the data quality notes available in the dashboard.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 24 February 2026.