healthcare update - issue eight
Home comfort?
The Personal Care at Home Bill was introduced in the Queen’s
speech to address growing concern that pensioners are being forced
to spend all their savings and sell property to fund care. The
Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, believes that the Bill “is the
first significant step towards making our system of care simpler,
fairer and more affordable”.
What is the aim of the Bill?
It is just one part of Gordon Brown’s plans of developing a
National Care Service to match the National Health Service. It will
allow elderly and disabled people with the highest needs to stay in
their own homes, rather than going into residential care, by
providing them with free personal care in their own homes; for
example, by providing physical assistance with everyday tasks such
as eating and drinking, toileting, washing and dressing. It is
estimated that it will benefit about 400,000 people.
How will it work?
It is proposed that:
- An individual will have an initial assessment on first contact
with the council
- The council will provide a period of intensive intervention and
're-ablement' or re-build skills and functioning to support
independence
- A formal community care assessment will identify the range
of need, the personal care component and the appropriate Fair
Access to Care Services banding
- Those placed in the highest needs band will have an assessment
of personal care needs and will be offered a sum to cover the cost
of their personal care
- The remaining non-personal care element (especially the
accommodation costs) will remain subject to the means test and
local authorities will be able to levy charges on it in accordance
with Fairer Charging Policy
How will it be funded?
It is estimated that the new system will cost about £670 million
per year. It remains unclear how this will be funded, although it
may be jointly funded by the Department of Health and local
councils.
Age Concern and Help the Aged welcomed the Bill but warned “It
is essential that councils are properly funded to provide this
care, so that there are no perverse incentives to either push older
people into residential care homes earlier than needed or assess
their needs as not critical enough to warrant free care at
home.”
The future of the Bill?
The Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons and had
its second reading debate on 14 December 2009. It has been
committed to a Public Bill Committee. The Policy will be
implemented by official guidance which is out for consultation at
the moment. The consultation ends on 23 February 2010.
Whilst the Bill has been broadly welcomed by charities including
Parkinson’s Disease Society, Help the Aged and Age Concern, it has
also received some criticism. It remains to be seen if the policy
can be implemented before the next general election and in what
form, bearing in mind the consultation period will not close until
the end of February 2010.
We need to see the government response to the consultation and
whether it can push it through quickly. If such a policy is
implemented, it will have legal implications for the division of
responsibilities between health and social care, for example, at
the stage of discharge into the community.
The Green Paper talked about National Care service with
deliberate echoes of National Health Service but it seems we still
have a long way to go before there is a real joined up approach
between health and social care.
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The content of this update is provided for the purposes of general
interest and information. It contains only brief summaries of
aspects of the subject matter and does not provide comprehensive
statements of the law. It does not constitute legal advice and does
not provide a substitute for it.