Up to 4,000 people a year are dying while waiting for a social care place, a leading industry figure claimed yesterday.
Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care – the representative body for independent social care services – estimated the true scale of the ‘hidden dying’.
He also demanded a summit after the Holyrood elections on the social care crisis and bed-blocking in hospitals.
Scottish Labour today released data which indicated around 500 people a year are dying in hospital while waiting for a social care place.
Other statistics previously indicated the total figure for all deaths while waiting for a social care place – including those at home – could be around 1,000 a year.
However Mr Macaskill believes the true figure is far higher, based on limited data available and conversations he has had with care home operators.
He said: ‘If you were to do calculation now, it would be closer to between 3,000 to 4,000.
Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care
‘Every day we hear providers saying, “we know this person needed a care home place or care and support in their own home but they are not around anymore as they died”.
‘I call this group “the hidden dying”. If they were lined up outside hospital there would be a social, media and political outcry. But because it’s only the families who know they are dying waiting to get the care and support they need, nobody talks about it. Would they have died anyway? Possibly. But the difference is they wouldn’t have died without the lack of care support they deserve.’ Last month, the Mail revealed figures disclosed following freedom of information requests showing 2,165 people died in hospital without medical reason between April 2021 and February this year.
Separate data released today by Scottish Labour shows 1,579 people died between 2022 and 2025 while waiting to be discharged.
Dr Robert Kilgour, founder and chairman of care home provider Renaissance Care, warned: ‘Social care in Scotland is in intensive care. More care homes are sadly going to close, making vulnerable elderly homeless and some will tragically die due to the lack of proper government support.
‘This will lead to more NHS bed-blocking, more cancelled operations and longer NHS waiting lists.’
Adam Stachura, policy director at Age Scotland, said: ‘The authorities are not keeping tabs on it in a consistent and regular way. The impact on people’s quality of life is dramatic, so why aren’t the government and local authorities able to get a proper measure of this? The hidden dying should be in plain sight.’
According to Audit Scotland, delayed discharge cost the NHS £440 million in 2024-25.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘Behind these figures are Scots who spent their last days stuck in hospital wards rather than at home surrounded by friends and family.
‘The SNP’s pledge to end bed blocking lies in tatters, along with so many other broken promises.’
The SNP’s manifesto for the Holyrood elections said it has ‘far exceeded’ a commitment to increase funding for social care ‘and we are determined to go further, not least for the most complex cases’.
It went on: ‘We know there are people with significant and complex needs who often end up staying for longer in hospital than they need to because they don’t have a package or the right home adaptations that work for them.
‘We will address this and implement a new, recurring complex care investment for Scotland, beginning with £20 million. This will be delivered through Scotland’s independent living fund direct to individuals and will free up around 400 beds in Scotland’s hospitals.’
