Care Management Service

Created: 7/4/2024

Paying care home or home care fees

You may be familiar with the processes that Local Councils adopt to assess an adult's care and support needs, and provide the necessary services.  First, they will use the framework within the Care Act 2014 to determine the person's care and support needs and identify whether those needs are eligible needs (eligible for care and support).  They will also produce a support plan which details how the person's care and support needs are to be met, and who will provide the service.  Once this has been established, the Council will then identify who is going to pay for the provision by completing an assessment of the person's finances.  If the person has capital above the upper threshold (currently £23250) or refuses a financial assessment, the person will be liable to pay all of their care fees.  Below the lower threshold (currently £14250) the Council will pay all care fees and in between the two limits, a sliding scale contribution is made by the person.  Where a person is move out of their home and into a care home, in most circumstances (unless a spouse continues to live at home) the value of their home is taken into consideration when these calculations are made.  The same is not true if the person is continuing to live at home and have a homecare service.

Are you paying you own care home fees?

Where a person has been assessed as funding their own care home fees, or does not engage the Council because they know they will be paying their own fees, it is important to note that the Council can still assist.  Everyone is entitled to an assessment of their care and support needs and a support plan regardless of who will be paying for the service.  Everyone can also request that their Council assist them to find a care home, although there may be a fee charged for this service if the Council are not paying the care home fees.  Adopting this approach can be useful because some Councils have greater negotiating powers than individuals when it comes to care home fees. However, there is one major drawback with this approach... time.  It is no secret that local Council resources are stretched to the limits and even urgent care assessments taken several months to complete.  They will also prioritise cases where they will be paying the care home fees so brokerage services for people funding their own care often incur waits of several months or, in some cases, more than a year!  It is unrealistic for people to wait this long, particularly if they are waiting to be discharged from Hospital.

How can we help?

As a team of ex-Council and NHS Social Workers, we understand the urgency required when people are moving into a care home; particularly if they are being discharged from hospital.  Slow progress can often result in an emergency care home placement before a permanent placement is found.  It is often unnecessary for people to move twice and often causes unnecessary distress. We are experiences care managers and can usually undertake the whole process in approximately 2 weeks. In that time, we can achieve the following:

Once the person has move, we always undertake a 4-week review to ensure that they have settled into their new home. We would be delighted to support you to find your ideal care or nursing home, please call 0330 0435423 or email hello@simplysocialwork.co.uk and speak to Julie or Jo.

Are you a solicitor or professional deputy?

If you are a solicitor of professional deputy and require a care home or nursing home placement for your clients, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We can start to make arrangements immediately and can do as much or as little of the legwork that you require of us.  We can negotiate with hospital staff if they are considering an immediate discharge and with care home staff to ensure they complete pre-admission assessments promptly.