Scotland's free personal and nursing care (FPNC) future costs are unknown, according to an Audit Scotland report. The report also stated FPNC needs to be better planned, managed and funded for it to continue to benefit older people in future. The total costs of FPNC for the first four years were £1.8bn. Audit Scotland estimates councils would have spent around £1.2bn of this, even if the policy had not been introduced. ‘Councils and the Scottish Government should work together as a matter of urgency to clarify the current ambiguities and ensure FPNC is consistently applied across Scotland,' accounts commission chairman, Professor John Bailie, said. ‘Councils should also provide clear information to older people about what care they are entitled to under the policy.' Other recommendations for councils include working with local health partners to evaluate the longer-term consequences of reducing domestic home care services, and improving their information systems enabling the collection of comprehensive and accurate information on FPNC, and other aspects of care and support services. The Scottish Government said it remained committed to a ‘good policy'. By March 2007 around 72,000 older people in Scotland were receiving personal care services free of charge. Since July 2002, the number of older people: receiving public funding for personal care at home increased from 27,337 to 41,386. This includes people who, prior to FPNC, would have been paying for their own personal care through private contractual arrangements living in care homes who are contributing to their own accommodation and living costs, and who receive personal care, has increased from 7,680 to 9,361. living in care homes who are fully publicly funded has reduced slightly from 24,569 to 22,234.
