What Free Personal and Nursing Care actually is
Free Personal and Nursing Care is a payment the Scottish Government makes towards the cost of someone's care. It is one of the clearest differences between the Scottish and English systems, and it is also one of the most misunderstood, largely because of the word free.
- Free Personal Care is £260.30 a week. It covers help with the personal side of daily life: washing, dressing, continence care, help with eating, medication support and personal hygiene.
- Free Nursing Care is £117.10 a week, paid on top where the person's assessed needs require care from a registered nurse.
- Neither payment is means-tested. Savings, income, a pension or a house make no difference to whether you get it.
- Both are paid by the local authority, usually straight to the care home, so families see them as a reduction on the invoice rather than money arriving in a bank account.
Who qualifies, and the one thing that unlocks it
Since 2019 there is no age limit. Adults of any age who are assessed as needing personal care qualify, which is why you will sometimes see it called Frank's Law. What has not changed is the gateway: a local authority care needs assessment.
- 01Contact the social work department of the council where the person lives and request a care needs assessment. You can do this yourself. You do not need a GP referral and you do not need the council's permission.
- 02A social worker or occupational therapist assesses what help the person needs with daily living. This is about needs, not money.
- 03If the assessment finds a need for personal care, the personal care contribution follows. If it finds a need for registered nursing input, the nursing contribution follows too.
- 04A separate financial assessment only happens if you are asking the council to help with the rest of the fee. It has no bearing on the personal and nursing care payments.
What is covered, and what is not
| Covered by the personal care payment | Not covered |
|---|---|
| Help with washing, bathing and personal hygiene | Accommodation and the room itself |
| Help with dressing and undressing | Food, catering and hospitality |
| Continence management | Heating, lighting and general household costs |
| Help with eating and drinking | Laundry and housekeeping |
| Support with medication | Activities, entertainment and outings |
| Personal assistance with mobility and transfers | Hairdressing, chiropody and similar extras |
The nursing payment covers care that must be delivered or supervised by a registered nurse, such as complex wound care, catheter and PEG management, and clinical observation.
Put simply, the state pays for the care. The family, the council, or a combination of both pays for the hotel: the room, the food, the heating and everything that makes a care home a place to live rather than a clinical service.
How it fits with council funding and benefits
If the council is funding part of the placement, the personal and nursing care contributions are already built into the standard rate it pays, currently around £930 a week for residential care and £1,074 for nursing care under the interim Interim 2026/27 National Care Home Contract. You do not receive them separately on top.
If the person is self-funding, the payments come off the home's invoice. If their capital falls below £36,750 over time, they can ask the council for a financial assessment at that point, and support may begin. Our care home costs guide explains the capital limits, tariff income and the £37.65 personal expenses allowance in detail.
Pension Age Disability Payment, which has replaced Attendance Allowance in Scotland, sits separately and follows different rules once someone is in a care home. Our Pension Age Disability Payment guide covers exactly when it stops and when it continues.
Timing, backdating and what to do if it stalls
- Request the care needs assessment as early as you can, ideally before a move rather than after it.
- Ask the council in writing to confirm the date the assessment was requested, because payments generally run from assessment rather than from the day you first phoned.
- If someone is being discharged from hospital, the discharge team should trigger the assessment. Confirm in writing that they have.
- Keep a note of names, dates and reference numbers. Assessments occasionally get lost between hospital, social work and finance teams.
- If nothing has happened after a few weeks, ask for the council's complaints or escalation route. A polite written chase almost always moves things.
- Tell the care home as soon as the payments are agreed so the invoice is corrected from the right date.