Guides
Straight answers on care in Scotland
Choosing a care home is usually the hardest decision a family makes together, and most of the information out there is written for England. These guides are written for Scotland, kept current, and free of jargon.
Paying for care
What care costs in Scotland, what the state pays for, and where the gaps fall.
- 9 min read
How much does a care home cost in Scotland?
Real weekly figures, the capital limits, Free Personal and Nursing Care, and two worked examples showing what a family pays in practice.
Read the guide - 8 min read
Free Personal and Nursing Care explained
Scotland's most misunderstood benefit. What the £260.30 and £117.10 weekly contributions cover, who is eligible, how to apply, and what families still have to fund.
Read the guide - 7 min read
Care home top-up fees: what families need to know
Third-party top-ups explained honestly: when a council can ask for one, when it should not, how they are agreed in writing, and what happens if you can no longer pay.
Read the guide - 8 min read
Attendance Allowance in Scotland and Pension Age Disability Payment
Attendance Allowance has been replaced in Scotland by Pension Age Disability Payment: £76.70 or £114.60 a week, not means-tested. What it pays, how to claim, and the care home rules.
Read the guide
Choosing a home
How to compare homes properly, what the inspection grades mean, and what to ask.
- 11 min read
How to choose a care home
How to shortlist, how to read an inspection report, what to notice on a visit, and 30 questions worth asking before you commit.
Read the guide - 8 min read
Types of care explained
The difference between a care home and a nursing home, what dementia and specialist registration mean, and how to judge the right level of care without over-buying or under-buying.
Read the guide
Moving in
What happens between the decision and the first week, including hospital discharge.
- 9 min read
Moving into a care home: what actually happens
How to raise the subject, what the pre-admission assessment involves, what to bring, what the first day and first month feel like, and how families settle in too.
Read the guide - 8 min read
Hospital discharge into a care home
What happens between a hospital ward and a care home place: discharge planning, delayed discharge, your right not to be rushed, and a checklist for the day itself.
Read the guide
Still deciding
Talk it through with someone who knows
Our home managers speak with families every day, most of them long before anyone is ready to move. There is no obligation and no sales pitch.
8 guides, reviewed and updated as Scottish rates and rules change.