Care homes Scotland: One in five homes have closed in past decade amid 'not prepared' warning

One in five care homes have closed in Scotland, new research from Public Health Scotland suggests, leading top carers to warn the country is “simply not prepared” for the coming years

Research from Public Health Scotland shows that between March 31 2013 and March 31 2023, there was a 19 per cent drop in the number of care homes for adults.

One in five care homes have closed over the past decade, research suggests, leading top carers to claim Scotland is “simply not prepared” for the next few decades.

Research from Public Health Scotland shows that between March 31, 2013 and March 31 this year, there was a 19 per cent drop in the number of care homes for adults.

The number of registered places has fallen by 5 per cent and the number of residents cared for by the voluntary or not-for-profit sector has dropped by 33 per cent.

Dr Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, said care home registrations “are not telling the full story”.

“What has been happening is smaller, often charitable care homes and small family businesses have been closing and, in many instances, have been re-registered by larger organisations,” he said.

“But the real story is not the number of care homes, but where they are. So there is a disproportionate loss of care homes in rural and remote areas, which makes local care impossible.”

Dr Macaskill also said there was an “inadequate” level of care home funding coming from the Scottish Government and council umbrella body Cosla, and stressed this was leading to more care homes refusing state-funded places and opting to only admit privately-funded patients.

“The NCHC [National Care Home Contract] rate is £880, and an independent analysis suggests the true cost of nursing care placement is closer to £1300-1400,” he said. “The state is simply not paying the true cost of viable and sustainable quality care.

“Care homes cannot continue to plug that gap any longer and so whether as a charitable care home or private, they are effectively no longer available to State-funded individuals. The care home may remain open, but is closed to state admissions.”

Dr Macaskill warned that as the number of Scots living with dementia rises, “the overall number of closures and reduction in the last ten years means we are simply not prepared for the number needed in the next 20 [years]”.

“We need more, not less, even with people being supported in the community as it is clear that homecare is on its knees too,” he said.

The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton, said the crisis in social care “isn’t going away”. “Those who know the sector best understand that as more homes shut their doors, more people struggle to access care close to home,” he said.

“The Government are bereft of solutions. Instead, SNP ministers are charging ahead with an ill-fated power grab that will utterly fail to address key problems. Their plans should be scrapped, not salvaged.

“Rather than wasting billions of pounds on a futile and centralising bureaucracy, Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see that money spent on delivering care services close to home, driving up the quality of care and rewarding staff with better pay, conditions and career progression.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are working with partners to improve social care services and deal with the challenges the sector faces. Adult social care support is vital to all who require additional support, whether that is to live independently at home, in the community, or to move into a care home.

“No one wants to see the closure of good quality care homes, but unfortunately this can happen for a number of reasons, such as quality concerns or care homes changing ownership.

“We’ve increased funding and pay rises for social care support staff to help deal with the consequences of reduced staffing because of Brexit, the pandemic, and rising costs of energy and inflation, and are working towards our commitment to increase spend in social care by 25 per cent by the end of this Parliament, an increase of over £840 million.”