Number of public sector care home places halved

The number of care home places in the public sector has halved in Tayside, despite Scotland’s ageing population.

Across the country, thousands of registered places in residential care have been lost, with the Scottish Conservatives condemning SNP complacency for failing to properly plan for demographic shifts.

In Tayside, places provided through the NHS or local authorities have fallen from 613 to 328 since 2000.

While the private sector makes up some of the shortfall, Tayside is still 2% down on the number of places available 15 years ago.

The fall in care home places heaps pressure on hospitals which are struggling to release patients back into the community.

Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservatives’ public health spokesman, said: “It’s no wonder bed-blocking is such a problem while care home places remain limited.

“I appreciate it’s not entirely down to the Scottish Government to sort this problem out, but it must shoulder some responsibility.

“The SNP has been in charge for nearly a decade, and through that has been repeatedly warned about the need for planning for an ageing population.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said its policies are “enabling more people to live longer and more independently in their own homes”.

“We are providing more than £0.5 billion additional funding over three years to help Health and Social Care Partnerships establish new ways of working, and investing a further £250 million per year to protect and grow social care services,” he added.