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NHS Funded Care

SOLVING PERSONAL LEGAL MATTERS

If you or a loved one requires NHS-funded care, it is important to understand the legal framework surrounding these services. At Forbes Solicitors, we have a team of specialist solicitors who can help you navigate the complex rules and regulations that govern NHS-funded care. We can guide you through the assessment process, helping you to understand your rights and entitlements. Whether you are seeking support for a long-term condition, or you require short-term care after a hospital stay, we can help you access the services you need.

What is NHS Funded Nursing Care?

NHS funded nursing care is when the NHS pays for the nursing care component of care of nursing home fees, provided certain criteria is met.

Some people with long term complex health needs qualify for free social care arranged and funded by the NHS - known as NHS continuing healthcare.

People funded wholly by the health authority, also known as 'Continuing Care.'

This is a package of care arranged and funded solely by NHS where a person's primary need is a health need. It can be provided in hospital, a person's own home or a care home setting. This can be to meet a physical or a mental health need that has arisen as a result of a disability, accident or illness.

The criteria are set out in a National Framework for NHS Continuing Health Care and NHS Funded Nursing Care. There is a two-stage assessment to see if someone qualifies. The first stage is an initial screening and the second stage is a more in-depth assessment involving different agencies to look at all aspects of someone's physical and mental health.

The framework standardizes the process that must be followed nationally, to decide where the responsibility for care lies and who is eligible for NHS funded nursing care. You can receive NHS Continuing Care funding whether you live at home or in a nursing home.

The eligibility decisions are needs based and hinge on whether you have a primary health need.

If you believe a family member should be in receipt of NHS Continuing Care funding, you can ask for an assessment and it is recommended that you ask for some literature to inform you of the process and to take part in the meetings. Our NHS continuing care solicitors can help you challenge NHS decisions if you do not pay your care home fees when they have a responsibility to do so.

People who receive a short stay in care for rehabilitation purposes known as 'intermediate care'

This basically covers the situation where someone may go into care to give their carer a break, often referred to as respite care. It also covers situations where someone may be in hospital on a rehabilitation ward trying to establish what type of care will be needed next depending upon what progress the patient can make.

People who have residential care provided for them as aftercare under S117 of the Mental Health Act 1983

This occurs where someone has been sectioned under section 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 1983 in order to receive medical treatment and also includes specialist mental health nursing. In this situation local authorities have a duty to make arrangements for the continuing care and support of someone detained under this section. If the condition for which they have been sectioned for continues, then funding to support the care should be available.

Contact our elderly care solicitors today for practical legal advice on care home fees and legal issues surrounding elderly care. Please call 0333 009 5580 or fill out our online enquiry form and someone will contact you as soon as possible.