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Older people in Scotland are being forced to wait up to a year to be assessed for free personal care, according to new research by older people's charity Age Concern Scotland.

A spokesperson for the charity said: "Waiting for an assessment is taking too long in some areas. This could be used as a way of rationing the provision of free care."

However, a spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said the survey "was out of date and inaccurate".

Deputy health minister Frank McAveety said: "We do not recognise the negative picture painted in this report. We have closely monitored the progress of free personal care jointly with Cosla and implementation has been an overall success."