Three reports providing official adult social care statistics released by NHS Digital today

NHS Digital has today published three reports which include the latest statistics on those in receipt of adult social care in England.

The reports cover a range of topics – from the feelings of those in receipt of adult social care to the latest statistics on social care activity and finance.

1. Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey, England 2018-19:

Almost two thirds (64.3%)² of people receiving social services care during 2018-19 were very or extremely satisfied with the care and support they received – a rate that has remained stable from last year³.

2.0% of service users were very or extremely dissatisfied with the care and support they received.

Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) England 2018-19 is an annual survey published by NHS Digital, which is conducted by Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs)⁴.

This year’s results⁵ found that 58.5% of service users in a residential care support setting reported feeling that they had as much social contact that they wanted with people they like.

Service users in the community reported the lowest levels of feeling that they had as much social contact as they wanted with people they like (41.9%) and the highest levels of feeling socially isolated (7.3%).

For service users that have little social contact and feel socially isolated, 36.7% felt they were extremely anxious or depressed and 16.3% reported not feeling anxious or depressed.

2. Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework 2018-19⁶:

The proportion of adults with a learning disability who live in their own home or with family has increased every year for the last five years.

Figures show that 77.4% of adults with a learning disability live in their own home or with their family – up from 74.0% in 2014-15.

Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) in England for 2018-19 draws on a number of data collections and measures how well care and support services achieve the outcomes that matter most to people.

The report also includes data on delayed transfers of care⁷ – with figures varying across the country⁸.

The highest average number of delayed transfers of care was in the South East (13.0 per 100,000 population) and the lowest was in the North East (5.7 per 100,000 population).

The North West had the highest average number of delayed transfers of care that were attributable to social care (4.5 per 100,000 population) and the North East had the lowest (1.1 per 100,000 population)⁹.

3. Adult Social Care Activity and Finance report 2018-19¹⁰:

Local authorities received 1.9 million requests for adult social care support from new clients¹¹ during 2018-19, which is equivalent to 5,245 requests for support received per day. 

This is an increase of 3.8% since 2017-18 (when it was 1.8 million).

Local authority spending on adult social care rose to £18.7 billion in 2018-19, which is an increase of £807 million on last year. This is a cash increase of 4.5% and a real-terms increase of 2.6%.

The area of care which saw the largest increase in expenditure was long term support, which increased by £674 million to £14.6 billion in 2018-19, an increase of 4.8% in cash terms.

Overall, the number of clients receiving long term care has decreased each year from 872,520 in 2015-16 to 841,850 in 2018-19. This has mainly been driven by a decrease in clients aged 65 and over receiving long term care - down 39,060 to 548,435 since 2015-16.

The average cost of residential care for a person aged 65 and over rose from £604 per week in 2017-18 to £636 per week in 2018-19, while the average cost of nursing care for the same age band increased from £638 per week in 2017-18 to £678 per week in 2018-19.

For those aged 18 to 64, the average cost for residential care rose from £1,274 per week in 2017-18 to £1,320 per week in 2018-19, while the average cost of nursing care for the same age band increased from £921 per week in 2017-18 to £976 in 2018-19.

Read the full reports:

Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey, England 2018-19

Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework 2018-19

Adult Social Care Activity and Finance report 2018-19

ENDS

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Notes to editors

1. NHS Digital is the national information and technology provider for the health and care system.  Our team of information analysis, technology and project management experts create, deliver and manage the crucial digital systems, services, products and standards upon which health and care professionals and citizens depend. During the 2018/19 financial year, NHS Digital published 265 statistical reports. Our vision is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better. The Health and Social Care Information Centre is a non-departmental body created by statute, also known as NHS Digital. We provide ‘Information and Technology for better health and care’. Find out more about our role and remit at www.digital.nhs.uk
2. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place; the percentages given for each question may therefore not add up to 100 per cent. The proportions have been calculated by weighting the response data using eligible population figures, to estimate the proportion of the population who hold these views. As these questionnaire responses are estimates the figures quoted in relation to the number of ‘service users’ or ‘people’ are rounded to the nearest 10. The known figures, such as the eligible population, are rounded to the nearest five.
3. Although this is lower than the 65.0 per cent in 2017-18, the change is not statistically significant.
4. The report uses data collected from a sample of 68,745 service users who participated in the survey and these are weighted to make inferences (or estimates) about the questionnaire responses for the whole eligible population (632,425 service users).
5. The survey, which is in its ninth year, seeks the opinions of service users aged 18 and over, who are in receipt of long-term support services, which are funded or managed by social services.
6. The report includes Survey of Adult Carers in England, Adult Social Care Survey, Short and Long Term Support (SALT) and the Mental Health Services dataset. 
7. A delayed transfer of care occurs when a patient is ready to depart from such care and is still occupying a bed. A patient is ready for transfer when:

a. A clinical decision has been made that patient is ready for transfer AND

b. A multi-disciplinary team decision has been made that patient is ready for transfer

AND

c. The patient is safe to discharge/transfer.

8. The denominator is for the population of the area who are aged 18 and over. The delayed transfers are an average number of delays (for those aged 18 and over) each day, which is calculated by dividing the number of delayed days during the month by the number of calendar days in the month. An average is then calculated across a 12-month reporting period.
9. Delayed transfers can be attributable to the NHS, social care or both. ASCOF measure 2C is in three parts to cover all three options.
10. The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report 2018-19 contains aggregate information submitted by 152 Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) in England, to provide insight into adult social care activity and expenditure for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. This is the third year in which the adult social care activity and finance data have been brought together in an official statistics report. Activity data is sourced from the Short and Long Term (SALT) return. Adult social care activity provided or arranged by local authorities covers a wide range of services including long term and short-term care, plus support to carers. As such, it does not cover adult social care activity that is provided or funded elsewhere, for example, if the care is arranged and funded by the client without any involvement from the local authority. Finance data is taken from the Adult Social Care Finance Return (ASC-FR).
11. The requests calculated here are those for which an outcome was determined in the year.
12. For media enquiries please contact [email protected] or 0300 303 3888.