Care funding Archives - Altogether Care

How Much Will It Cost to Have the Care At Home Service You Need?

Posted on 14 October 2020 by dukadmin

The fact that you need some help with day-to-day tasks doesn’t mean that it’s time to move to residential care or give up your home and independent way of life. A care at home service often offers the best of both worlds.

Help is available during pre-arranged home visits at times you choose. Life can be made more manageable while you continue to enjoy the familiarity and security of your own surroundings. You can opt for a care service that helps meet a wide range of needs, from picking up prescriptions, shopping and preparing meals, through to help with personal hygiene or nursing care and medication.

What Care Do You Need?

Everyone is different and so are their care needs, which is why the first step is usually to arrange a care needs assessment with your local council. It might be that you will only need care for a limited period of time, such as recovering from illness or a hospital visit. Or it may be that you need something longer-term that will make day-to-day life more manageable.

Depending on your income and assets, it’s likely that you will have to pay for some or all of your care. The question of how much the care will cost then becomes very important. The care at home packages provided by Altogether Care are based on individual needs and are highly flexible. The costs are based on each client’s specific care package and are explained and discussed with each individual in advance.

To make it easier to understand how much your care is likely to cost, we’ve created a care cost calculator. This is an easy to use online tool that takes you step-by-step through your options looking at the types of care you want to receive. At the end of the process you will receive an accurate estimate of the cost of your care at home package. This will help you make better-informed decisions when it comes to planning your care.

Try the Care Cost Calculator

For more information, contact us on 01305 300 161.

Self-Funding Care – What You Need to Know

Posted on 31 October 2019 by dukadmin

If you live in England and have more than £23,250 in savings, you will probably have to pay for at least some of your care. The value of your property may also be taken into consideration if you opt for residential care rather than care in your own home.

As care costs can be significant, it’s no surprise that self-funding is one of the things we get asked about most often. Care at home will cost at least £20 per hour and residential care over £600 per week.

The reality for most people is that care costs are hard to avoid, and some level of self-funding is inevitable. But there are exceptions and it always pays to know the facts so you can plan effectively. The Money Advice Service has plenty of information on their website.

Exceptions and Benefits

Social care is intended to help with tasks that are part of normal living rather than healthcare needs for a disability or complex medical condition. Continuing healthcare requirements could potentially be covered by NHS funding. Unfortunately, there are no clear definitions of what conditions are included and getting the NHS to pay for healthcare costs can be difficult.

To access NHS support, you will need to ask your GP or social services department to arrange a care needs assessment.

You may be able to claim benefits to meet some of your care costs. If you are over 65 and have a long-term illness or disability, you can claim Attendance Allowance towards the cost of care at home. This may not cover the whole cost of your care but will help to reduce the burden.

If you have an illness or disability caused by work, you can claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and possibly a Constant Attendance Allowance on top of this if you need daily care.

Property

The value of your property isn’t relevant if you are planning to receive care in your own home. If you decide on residential care, it will be counted unless your partner continues to live in it.

It might be that selling your property to pay for residential care is a sensible choice. But there are alternatives if you’re not yet ready to make that step or if you want to remain at home. Equity release will provide a lump sum in return for a share of your home. Your council may also have a deferred payment scheme where they fund your care and recover the cost from the proceeds when your home is eventually sold or from your estate.

Arranging Care

If you are paying for your own care, you can choose a care provider you prefer and deal with them directly. It still makes sense to have a care needs assessment so that you know what type and level of care you need to buy and whether any financial support is available. The council might, for example, pay for equipment or modifications to your home to make it easier for you to live in.

If you think you are eligible for council or NHS funded care, arranging a care needs assessment will be the first step.

In some areas you can ask social services to arrange care with an approved provider and bill you for the cost, but not all areas offer this.

If you are funding your own care and you think that your savings will go below the £23,250 threshold, you should contact your social services department three months beforehand. They can then arrange a new financial assessment. They will not back-date their financial support if you claim after your savings have gone below the threshold.

Self-funding care can be a complex area, the team at Altogether Care are always happy to answer any questions you might have. Just give us a call on 01305 206140 or visit our Contact page.

Elderly Care Funding – Your Step by Step Guide

Posted on 19 August 2019 by dukadmin

Many of us are likely to need some level of care support as we get older. And the reality is that most of us will have to pay for some or all of that care. Uncertainty over how care funding rules work can cause anxiety and may lead to people not seeking the help they need.

This guide briefly explains how the process works. While there’s no easy way to avoid care costs it’s always helpful to understand how your care needs will be assessed and how your local council will decide what you will need to pay.

1. The Care Needs Assessment

The first step is to have your care needs assessed by your local council. You can request a care needs assessment by contacting the adult social services department. You can also do this on behalf of a relative as long as they give their consent. The assessment is free.

You may also have a care needs assessment if you are about to be discharged from hospital. If you need medical rather than personal care the NHS will pay. This would normally apply only if you have a disability or complex medical condition.

2. The Care Plan

The assessment will look at your physical and emotional needs. Based on these needs, your preferences, and what you would like to be able to do more easily with care support, the local council will draw up a care plan. They will most likely consult your doctor or any other health professionals you come into contact with regularly.

The care plan will specify the help you need and any modifications that might be needed to make you home easier for you to live in. It may say whether the most appropriate option is for you to receive help from a care at home service or residential care.

3. The Means Test

The council will ask about your income, savings and other assets to assess how much you need to contribute to the cost of your care. If you are planning to use a care at home service, the means test will not include the value of your property.

If you are going to enter residential care the cost of your property will be included unless your home will continue to be occupied by your spouse or partner, a relative aged over 60 or a child under the age of 18.

If you live in England and have assets of more than £23,250 you will have to fund all of your care. Below this level the local council will meet some of the cost. If you have assets worth less than £14,250 the council will pay for all of your care.

Giving away assets to family members to avoid care fees is unlikely to work. It is often possible to defer payments so that they are collected from your estate after you die.

4. Paying for Care

If you are eligible for council-funded care they can arrange this for you, or you can receive direct payments and pay for the care yourself. If you are self-funding, your council can still provide advice and help you choose a reputable care provider.

Altogether Care is a family-run business providing a range of care services to people in Dorset, South Somerset and Hampshire. If you have any questions about the support available, costs or any other aspect of care please get in touch, we’ll be happy to help.

It Isn’t All Doom and Gloom in the Care Home Sector

Posted on 8 January 201922 February 2024 by dukadmin

Anyone who reads a newspaper or looks at a news website will know that the care sector faces problems. People are living longer and developing more complex care needs, while the funding for care services fails to keep pace with demand for services.

Most local authorities want to spend more on care but simply don’t have the cash to fund much beyond the most acute needs.

Care Homes Closing

According to the Health Foundation, funding for adult social care fell by 21% between 2009/10 and 2015/16 – at the same time as demand for services was increasing. A consequence of these pressures is that care homes are closing across the country because they simply can’t make the numbers add up. Altogether Care is just one of four remaining nursing care home providers in Weymouth, for example.

Demand Increasing

While over £7bn has been cut from social care budgets since 2010, we know that more people are needing elderly care services. The strain placed on informal networks of carers and family members is considerable.

The net effect is less choice. The business failures are affecting both smaller, independent care homes, rooted in their communities and the larger corporate organisations (sometimes owned by institutional investors), making it harder for people to know which homes are likely to be around into the future.

Bucking the Trend

But, like we said, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Altogether Care is finding a way to thrive in this environment. We put this down to our foundations as a local family-run organisation and the reputation we have worked hard to earn for delivering high-quality care for over 30 years.

We are not only surviving but investing and developing. We have planning permission recently granted for extending the number of rooms available at our Weymouth home and have recently refurbished the top floor at our luxury Grade II listed assisted living care home Steepleton Manor. This floor now offers a range of premium rooms and suites, some with kitchenette and en-suite facilities.

We have also recently opened a new Care at Home office in Southampton, and our new office in Salisbury is due to open February 2019 to extend our area of operation and support for local people.

The future for the care sector will remain challenging until there is a sustainable solution to the funding questions. In the meantime, there are still caring community-focused organisations that are able to build on their strengths and meet the needs of older people. Why not come and see for yourself what life with Altogether Care is really like? To arrange a visit, contact us today on 01305 206 140.

Tag: Care funding

Elderly Care Funding – Your Step by Step Guide

It Isn’t All Doom and Gloom in the Care Home Sector

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