The cost of free personal and nursing care for elderly Scots reached a record high of almost £500million in 2015-16, a new report has revealed.
Councils spent £371million on personal care for those who receive help to allow them to continue living at home while a further £127million went on free personal and nursing care payments for care home residents.
The £498million total for the flagship policy compares to £327million in 2006-07 – with the cost of providing assistance for elderly people living at home having increased from £228million.
Meanwhile, the number of hours of care being provided to older people across Scotland has increased by almost 50% over the period.
Free personal care for the elderly was introduced in Scotland in July 2002, meaning those aged 65 and over could no longer be charged if they needed assistance in areas such as washing and dressing.
Almost 78,000 people in Scotland benefited from the policy in 2015-16, the Scottish Government report revealed, with nearly 31,000 people in care homes and approximately 47,000 people living in their own home all receiving assistance.
The number of people still living at home who need help has risen from a total of 40,410 in 2006-07.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “We want older and vulnerable people to be able to stay at home or in a homely setting within their own communities for as long as possible.
“Free personal and nursing care is ensuring that we can offer them the support they need to make that a reality.
“We have invested £500million additional funding over three years directly to partnerships to support new ways of working.
“On top of this funding, our last budget set out plans to invest £250million per year through health and social care partnerships to protect and grow social care services, and a further £107million for social care is being provided from this year.”