Cheselden Continuing Care Ltd » Personal Care

Relationship between NHS continuing care and free personal care clarified

ericstenson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:59:08 +0000

The House of Lords is currently debating the exact nature of the forthcoming Personal Care at Home Bill, before issuing a White Paper. In response to questions raised about how the Bill will affect people who currently receive NHS-funded continuing care for serious health needs Baroness Thornton made the following statement: ‘If an individual has primary healthcare needs, NHS continuing care should meet this and the individual’s package of care would be provided by the NHS and not by the local authority. It is important to recognise that if an individual needs continuing care to meet needs which do not include a significant health component, this will be provided by the local authority – it is right that they should be able to receive their personal care free of charge, if they qualify for it. It is important that NHS continuing care and free personal care are recognised as different ways of delivering health and social care where the balance between health and care may differ.’ This is an important point as people can receive NHS continuing care at home, and it needs to be clear in which cases the NHS will fund and arrange care and when this must be done by the local authority.

Inheritance levy could be proposed to fund residential care costs

ericstenson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:42:37 +0000

In other news around the White Paper, the Guardian reports that the government is considering a compulsory levy of £20,000 to be charged to an individual’s estate after their death. The money raised would be put into the social care funding ‘pot’ for care home fees. Ministers are currently divided over the scheme, which some fear will prove unpopular with voters if it is confirmed before the election. The scheme, intended to replace the current system whereby many people have to sell their homes to pay for residential care, is supported by a number of organisations including the charity Age Concern and Help the Aged. Its main downside is that the levy would still be payable from the deceased’s estate even if they had received little or no state-funded social care in their lifetime. However, the government hopes that, as well as spreading the cost of social care across the population, the fixed nature of the levy would mean that in most cases, parents could still leave something to their children after their deaths. The new scheme would work in partnership with the Personal Care at Home bill, with the overall aim of enabling more people to be cared for at home whilst ensuring funds are available for residential care if it is needed.

Personal Care at Home bill extended to cover intermediate care

ericstenson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:40:38 +0000

The Prime Minister has announced that the Personal Care at Home bill will be extended to provide people aged 65+ with six weeks of free home care after they have left hospital or residential care, or after they have suffered an illness or injury at home. This type of care, often referred to as ‘intermediate care’ prevents unnecessary hospital or care home admissions and enables people to be discharged earlier with the reassurance of knowing they will receive extra support at home. Tens of thousands of people could benefit from the wider implementation of this care, which would form part of the National Care Service – due to be outlined in the forthcoming White Paper on social care. In a speech to the Kings Fund, Gordon Brown described the beneficiaries of the new intermediate care service as primarily ‘…older people on middle incomes or with lower incomes who struggle daily with the costs and problems of living with frailty and disability.’ Details of how the scheme will be funded are to be included in the White Paper.

Widespread criticism for Labour over free care bill

ericstenson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:35:58 +0000

As Labour prepares to release a White Paper on the new structure of social care in England, the government is coming under fire for its Personal Care at Home bill, which will form part of the new National Care Service. The bill, which promises to provide free home care for people aged over 65 and who have ‘critical’ care needs, is seen as flying in the face of July’s Green Paper, in which the government ruled out taxpayer-funded free care. Labour’s change of heart over free care was initially welcomed – if cautiously – by charitable organisations in particular. However, it has become clear that funding for the new system is unsustainable given the various factors of the recession, far-reaching public spending cuts and a gross underestimation of the amount of free care that will be required. Increasingly, the promise of free care is being seen by the media as a pre-election gimmick to secure votes in the run-up to the general election, with the Guardian commenting that: ‘…with barely 100 days before the election, the claim to have rolled back the hated means test no doubt seems attractive.’ Despite voting in favour of the Personal Care at Home bill, the other main political parties are proving to be more cautious than Labour when outlining their own plans for funding social care. The Conservatives seem to favour an insurance-based system whilst the Liberal Democrats have scrapped their original plans to provide free care, indicating that to do this would be economically unsustainable – a view shared by a number of organisations including the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS).

Experts have warned that the current government figures for free care fail to take into account either an increase in demand with time, or the effect of people who previously chose to pay for private care switching to free care because they now qualify for it (a situation described by the Guardian as ‘redistributing to the rich’). Whilst challenging the Personal Care at Home bill in the House of Lords, former health minister Lord Warner warned that when Scotland began offering free personal care in 2003, the costs doubled within four years and the number of claimants went up by 36%. Although the bill survived the challenge, more and more organisations are now backing the view originally put forward in the Green Paper that individuals must share the cost of care with government funding.

Other concerns around the Personal Care at Home bill centre around how it will be decided which people have ‘critical’ care needs and will therefore receive funding. How will needs be assessed as ‘critical’ and what help will be available for those whose needs are severe, but not ‘critical’? This is made more complex by the fact that currently, local authorities all interpret care needs differently. Some authorities currently classify ‘critical’ care needs together with the lower category of ‘substantial’. With councils also offering different care services at different prices, there is a risk that many people will miss out on funding due to a ‘postcode lottery’ – as was the case when continuing care eligibility criteria were first introduced in 1995.

‘Funding gap’ identified in plans for free home care

ericstenson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:25:47 +0000

Social services directors have warned that the annual cost of implementing the Personal Care at Home bill could be £500 million more government figures currently show. The results of a survey show that the weekly cost of providing personal care to a single person is around £200 – double the government’s estimate. The original figures were based on a provision of 6.5 hours of care per week, but the Association of Directors of Social Services (Adass) considers that twice this amount is actually needed. Although Adass is in favour of the Personal Care at Home Bill, it is calling for an urgent review of funding and has offered to work with the government to resolve the issue. The new Bill aims to provide free home care to around 280,000 people, representing around half of the total number of people in England who need home help.

Charities get behind personal care bill

ericstenson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:21:40 +0000

Four charities have come together to give their backing to the Personal Care at Home bill, which was due for its second reading in Parliament on 1 February. Age Concern / Help the Aged, Counsel and Care, Parkinson’s Disease Society and Carers UK issued a joint statement in support of the Bill, which promises free home care to anyone aged over 65 who needs it. The charities said: ‘This Bill would mark an historic end to means-testing and charging for some of the most vulnerable people in our society to provide for their most basic care needs.’ However, the statement goes on to note that the Personal Care Bill is only the first step in ‘…solving the inequalities, inconsistencies and profound funding challenges of our creaking care system.’