Public performance reports

Community care is the term used to describe the care and support arrangements that are available to support the needs of our most vulnerable people, whether by age, disability, or mental capacity. Social Work Resources provide and commission a range of services that ensure service users are supported to remain in their homes. Support available ranges from care at home, meals at home, equipment adaptations and occupational therapy, assistive technology along with a number of community living services including the community mental health teams, care and support service, residential care home, and day care services.

Local councils have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess a person's community care needs and decide whether to arrange any services. Any assistance should be based on an assessment of the person's care needs and should take into account their preferences.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for the integration of health and social care in Scotland. It requires Local Authorities and Health Boards to integrate adult health and social care services. The Integrated Authority is South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (SLHSCP). The Partnership’s activity is overseen by the Integration Joint Board (IJB) The partnership has now produced its 2022-2025 Strategic Commissioning Plan and an Annual Report which sets out its intentions for the future of communities in South Lanarkshire.

The Social Care (Self Directed Support ) (Scotland) Act 2013 necessitates whole scale change in the way in which assessment and care management and support planning is developed alongside service users and carers offering them choice and control over what care services and support they opt for from (1) Direct Payment (2) Individual Service Fund (3) Council Managed Support or (4) mixture of the previous three. Self-directed Support (SDS) allows people needing support to choose how their support needs will be met. This indicator shows the spend on adults as a % of total adult social work spend.

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 makes provisions for unpaid carers, including the identification of carer’s needs for support through adult support plans and young carers statements; the provision of support to carers; the enabling of carer involvement in certain services; the preparation of local carer strategies; and the establishment of information and advice services for carers.

The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 play an important role in guiding how some services are delivered.

SW01 - Home Care costs per hour for people aged 65 or over

What this means
This indicator calculates home care costs per hour for people aged 65 or over. Home care is delivered in the client’s own home (including sheltered housing) and may include personal care, domestic help, laundry services, shopping services, and care attendant schemes.

Gross Expenditure is defined by the Local Financial Returns guidance for LFR03: Social Work. The LGBF figure is calculated using the following components of LFR 02 under Adult Social Care: Gross Expenditure adjusted for LFR purposes – Support Services + Revenue Contributions to Capital.

Why this matters
Home Care is one of the largest expenditures in Social Work and as such is an important indicator. With the increasing shift in the balance of care to the community, any efficiency from councils could be usefully shared.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
Home Care costs per hour for people aged 65 or over in South Lanarkshire increased in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23, with ranking dropping from 13 to 18. South Lanarkshire had the second highest cost per hour amongst the comparator Family Group, however, costs in the Family Group vary significantly.

The number of Home Care Hours used within the calculation for this indicator is inclusive of services provided by different staff-groups or purchased from different agencies. The costs of such services are included whether they are provided by the local authority, purchased from another local authority, or purchased from private or voluntary sector providers.

Internally, the outcome of a job evaluation within the Care at Home service resulted in increased employee costs following increased salaries for frontline staff.

Costs have increased as a result of a number of factors. Nationally, inflation and increased cost of living have impacted more generally on costs. In addition, there were substantial increases to the living wage which resulted in increased rates for Care at Home providers.

SW04b - Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that their services and support had an impact on improving or maintaining their quality of life.

What this means
The Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey asks about peoples’ experiences of accessing and using their GP Practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. Detailed definition and guidance can be found in the HACE survey Technical Report Sampling is done within GP practice lists, to aim for sufficient responses to achieve a reasonably reliable result for each practice. The reliability of the result depends on the number of questionnaires returned and the variability of the responses. The sample size that was calculated for each practice is based on the minimum number of responses that would be required to achieve an estimate of a percentage that has a 95 per cent confidence interval with width +/- 8 percentage points, sampled from a finite population.

Results at all levels of reporting are weighted to reduce potential bias by making the results more representative of the population. Eligible people are identified using an extract from the Community Health Index (CHI) database provided to Public Health Scotland. People eligible to be sampled for the survey were those registered to a Scottish GP practice and were aged 17 or over on the date the sampling procedure commenced. Patients with non-Scottish postcodes are excluded from the sampling frame. An initial letter asks respondents to complete the survey online but also include a helpline number. Reminder letters including a paper version of the questionnaire are also sent out, to boost response rates.

Why this matters
This indicator reflects the aggregate impact of local person-centred work to improve personal outcomes, focusing on what is important for individuals’ quality of life. It emphasises the increasing focus on personalisation of services, including the use of personal outcomes approaches.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
Performance for this indicator declined in South Lanarkshire in 2023-24, resulting in national ranking decreasing from 11 to 30. Nationally, there has been an overall decline in performance. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out).

South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements.

SW04c - Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that they are supported to live as independently as possible

What this means
The Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey asks about peoples’ experiences of accessing and using their GP Practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. Detailed definition and guidance can be found in the HACE survey Technical Report Sampling is done within GP practice lists, to aim for sufficient responses to achieve a reasonably reliable result for each practice. The reliability of the result depends on the number of questionnaires returned and the variability of the responses. The sample size that was calculated for each practice is based on the minimum number of responses that would be required to achieve an estimate of a percentage that has a 95 per cent confidence interval with width +/- 8 percentage points, sampled from a finite population.

Results at all levels of reporting are weighted to reduce potential bias by making the results more representative of the population. Eligible people are identified using an extract from the Community Health Index (CHI) database provided to Public Health Scotland. People eligible to be sampled for the survey were those registered to a Scottish GP practice and were aged 17 or over on the date the sampling procedure commenced. Patients with non-Scottish postcodes are excluded from the sampling frame. An initial letter asks respondents to complete the survey online but also include a helpline number. Reminder letters including a paper version of the questionnaire are also sent out, to boost response rates.

Why this matters
This indicator reflects whether people who receive support feel that it helps them maintain their independence. Health and Social Care Partnerships need to provide community based services that focus on enablement, prevention and anticipatory care that mitigate increasing dependence on care and support.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
Nationally, performance for this indicator declined in 2023-24. South Lanarkshire also reports a decline in performance and a resulting drop in ranking from 9 to 29. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out).

South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements.

SW04d - Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that they had a say in how their help, care or support was provided

What this means
The Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey asks about peoples’ experiences of accessing and using their GP Practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. Detailed definition and guidance can be found in the HACE survey Technical Report Sampling is done within GP practice lists, to aim for sufficient responses to achieve a reasonably reliable result for each practice. The reliability of the result depends on the number of questionnaires returned and the variability of the responses. The sample size that was calculated for each practice is based on the minimum number of responses that would be required to achieve an estimate of a percentage that has a 95 per cent confidence interval with width +/- 8 percentage points, sampled from a finite population.

Results at all levels of reporting are weighted to reduce potential bias by making the results more representative of the population. Eligible people are identified using an extract from the Community Health Index (CHI) database provided to Public Health Scotland. People eligible to be sampled for the survey were those registered to a Scottish GP practice and were aged 17 or over on the date the sampling procedure commenced. Patients with non-Scottish postcodes are excluded from the sampling frame. An initial letter asks respondents to complete the survey online but also include a helpline number.

Why this matters
This indicator reflects whether people receiving support feel that they have choice and control over how that support is provided. The increasing use of Self Directed Support should mean that more people feel that they have more control over the type of support they receive.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
South Lanarkshire reports a decline in performance in 2023-24, however, ranking has been unaffected at 27. Nationally there has also been a decline in performance. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out).

South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements.

SW04e - Percentage of carers who feel supported in their caring role

What this means
The Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey asks about peoples’ experiences of accessing and using their GP Practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. Detailed definition and guidance can be found in the HACE survey Technical Report Sampling is done within GP practice lists, to aim for sufficient responses to achieve a reasonably reliable result for each practice. The reliability of the result depends on the number of questionnaires returned and the variability of the responses. The sample size that was calculated for each practice is based on the minimum number of responses that would be required to achieve an estimate of a percentage that has a 95 per cent confidence interval with width +/- 8 percentage points, sampled from a finite population.

Results at all levels of reporting are weighted to reduce potential bias by making the results more representative of the population. Eligible people are identified using an extract from the Community Health Index (CHI) database provided to Public Health Scotland. People eligible to be sampled for the survey were those registered to a Scottish GP practice and were aged 17 or over on the date the sampling procedure commenced. Patients with non-Scottish postcodes are excluded from the sampling frame. An initial letter asks respondents to complete the survey online but also include a helpline number. 

Why this matters
This indicator illustrates the proportion of carers who feel sufficiently supported to continue in their role. Health and social care services need to be planned and delivered with a strong focus on the wellbeing of carers so that they can sustain the important caring responsibilities they have in the community.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
South Lanarkshire reports a slight decline in performance and a resulting drop in ranking from 20 to 27. Nationally however, performance has increased from in 2023-24. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out).

Contrary to the HACE results, Lanarkshire Carers successfully achieved Carers Trust Excellence for Carers Award in 2023 following rigorous assessment of their services Pan-Lanarkshire. Additionally, there was a 20% increase in the number of new carers identified by Lanarkshire Carers in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, this assists more people being able to access support than would otherwise be the case.

It is estimated that there are approximately 40,000 carers of all ages across the South Lanarkshire area. Carers’ support is provided in a variety of ways. Further information is available on the Carers pages of our website whilst South Lanarkshire’s Carers' Strategy outlines how carers are currently supported and future developments.

 Lanarkshire Carers is commissioned by South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership to provide carer engagement, empowerment, and representation services along with dedicated information, advice, and a range of direct support to unpaid carers. The number of new carers accessing the service has been increasing year on years since 2021.

For more information about the support that Lanarkshire Carers provides, visit their website.

Action for Children is commissioned to support young carers. They raise awareness, identify and provide direct support to children and young people who look after or help to look after someone in their family. An annual increase in young carers has been experienced by Action for Children since 2021.

For more information or to make a referral visit the Action for Children website.