About Cùram Taic

Cùram Taic is Gaelic for "care support".

Why this exists

Arranging care in Scotland means meeting a system that assumes you already understand it. Guardianship, Power of Attorney, the means test, free personal care, Self-directed Support options numbered one to four — all of it arrives at once, usually after a fall, a diagnosis or a hospital discharge.

The information is out there. It is spread across a dozen official sites, written for professionals, and easy to get wrong in ways that cost families thousands of pounds or months of delay. We put it in one place, in plain language, and built tools that do the working out for you.

Who runs it

Cùram Taic is built and paid for by PSA Studio, a one-person software studio in Ayrshire. It was built alongside caring for a parent, which is why it is shaped the way it is.

Why it is free, and what that means

There is no charge, no account needed, no adverts and nothing to sell you. We do not take referral fees from care homes or solicitors, and no one can pay to rank higher in our directories. If that ever changes, this page will say so plainly.

It is free because the work that pays for it is elsewhere. That also means we are small: we can keep the tools accurate and current, but we cannot give you advice about your own situation.

Where the information comes from

• Care homes — the Care Inspectorate's public register, refreshed automatically every month. Grades, bed numbers and inspection dates are theirs, not ours.
• Law and process — the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, the Office of the Public Guardian, Social Security Scotland and council charging policies.
• Family reviews — written by families, checked by a person before they appear.

Official data can be a few weeks behind, and a grade can be years old. We show you how old it is rather than hiding it. Always confirm current fees and vacancies with the home itself.

What we cannot do

We cannot arrange care, assess anyone, intervene with a council or a care home, or give legal, financial or medical advice. We are not an emergency service and we do not monitor messages out of hours.

If someone is at risk right now, see the contact page for who to call.

Getting it wrong

If something here is inaccurate, out of date, or written in a way that made things harder, we want to know. Tell us on the contact page and we will fix it.