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Care Home Census

Annual Care Home Census of residents living in a care home for adults in Scotland at the census date (31st March). Data includes number of residents, number of care homes, number of registered places, health characteristics, length of stay, and average gross weekly costs. Data are presented in a summary, full report, dashboard, and open data csv files, and a map.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source Care Home Census Data 2010 - 2024 collected via The Care Inspectorate's eForm system
Author PHS Health and Social Care team
Maintainer PHS Open Data team
Last Updated October 1, 2024, 09:50 (BST)
Created April 30, 2019, 13:54 (BST)
Contact Address Public Health Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9EB
Subject Care Home Information
Frequency Annual
Time frame of data and timeliness Data for years ending 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2024 excluding the year ending 31 March 2020. Data for year ending 31 March 2020 were not collected due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Coverage Scotland and Local Authority Level
Completeness Data for 2019/20 were not collected due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Of the 1,020 care homes for adults open on 31 March 2024, there were 818 (80%) care homes that submitted data for at least part of the Census and 202 (20%) care homes that did not submit any data. Data not submitted by care homes are estimated by PHS and included in this publication. PHS also publish a dashboard, in which data quality and data completeness issues are detailed for the last 10 years (2014-2024), together with the methodology that PHS uses to fill in missing data with estimated values: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/care-home-census-for-adults-in-scotland/care-home-census-for-adults-in-scotland-statistics-for-2014-to-2024/. For earlier years 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, the percentage of care homes that submitted data to the annual census was 85%, 79%, 80%, and 79% respectively.
Accuracy The number of care homes and the number of registered places in those care homes are sourced directly from the Care Inspectorate and are 100% accurate. The Care Inspectorate's eForms system automatically validates some of the data submitted by care homes. For example, in part 1 of the care home census (aggregated data), a care home cannot submit their data via the electronic eForm unless the number of residents at the start of the financial year equals the number of residents at the end of the financial year plus the number of admissions during the financial year, minus the number of deaths and discharges during the financial year. In part 2 of the care home census (individual long stays), there is a known issue in that discharge dates are not always recorded by the care homes. Some long stay residents who were discharged from a care home but whose discharge date was not recorded are included in this publication. This affects the estimation of the number of long stay residents, the calculation of mean and median length of stay (in years), and the mean and median age (in years).
Continuity of data As of 2010, the Care Inspectorate (formerly the Care Commission) collects the data on behalf of the Scottish Government using their eForms system. The data items collected have largely remained the same. The methodology used to calculate the data have remained the same.
Concepts and definitions Please see the Care Home Census data supplier guidance: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/ScottishCareHomeCensusB.   Long Stay Residents are those whose intention when admitted to an adult care home was to stay there for more than six weeks, regardless of how long they actually stay. Short Stay Residents are those whose intention when admitted to an adult care home was to stay there for fewer than six weeks, and the reason for the short stay was not for respite relief. If a resident stays for longer than 6 weeks they are counted as a long stay resident instead. Respite Residents are those who stay in an adult care home to provide respite or holiday relief to them and/or their carer. A period of respite is normally one night or one weekend or a few weeks at most.
Disclosure The following disclosure control methods have been applied to the data: PHS protocol on Statistical Disclosure Protocol (https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/3219/1_statistical-disclosure-control-protocol.pdf), and PHS Privacy Notice (https://publichealthscotland.scot/our-privacy-notice/).
Revision statement The 2022 data for ‘Rate of Registered Beds per 1,000’ have been revised using the 2022 mid-year population estimates from the National Records of Scotland. The rates for 2023 and 2024 are provisional and have also been calculated using the 2022 mid-year population estimates due to the 2023 and 2024 mid-year population estimates not being available at the time of this publication. The 2023 and 2024 rates will be revised in a future publication.
Official statistics designation Official Statistics
Relevance and key uses of the statistics The statistics are used by the Scottish Government, local authorities, private and voluntary service providers, academics, and members of the public to get a clear picture of care home provision across Scotland and to plan the provision of care home places in the future.
Format CSV
Language English
Links

The Care Inspectorate have a Datastore, where a variety of data on care homes in Scotland can be found.