Andrew Dilnot, chair of the commission set up to look at adult care funding, is due to report back shortly with his findings and proposals.

The Dilnot commission is likely to suggest an overhaul of the eligibility criteria that local authorities use to assess someone for local authority care.

Currently, individual local authorities grade people as having one of the following categories of need: critical, substantial, moderate or low. However, the current postcode lottery for this local authority care could be replaced by a new national eligibility ‘threshold’.

A similar exercise was carried out in 2007 for NHS Continuing Healthcare, and yet eligibility still often seems to come down to the opinion and bias of the individual assessors.

But the key point here is that the Dilnot commission is looking at social care, not nursing care or health care. Most media reports are misleading at best, barely mentioning that people who need care primarily for health reasons are entitled to fully-funded NHS care.

Social care = local authority care
Health care/nursing care = NHS care

…and NHS care is free at the point of use.

Don’t me misled. If you have health needs, you should be assessed for free NHS Continuing Healthcare. It’s as simple as that.

Always remember, there is nothing in law that says that when you reach a certain age the NHS can wipe you off its radar. The whole approach of deciding whether someone with serious health needs is ‘eligible’ for NHS care is questionable at the very least.

Read more about NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Don’t let a mix-up between health and social care cost you your home

There’s a huge amount of incorrect information published in the press about care fees.

There’s also a great deal of misinformation given to people by local authorities and by the NHS (especially when it comes to money and assessing people for funding).

Today’s press coverage about the badly-needed reforms to adult social care in England and Wales fails to make one crucial point:

If you have predominantly health needs, the NHS is responsible for providing care – and NHS care is free of charge at the point of use, no matter where you receive that care.

If you have an elderly relative needing care and you ask about being assessed for NHS care…

• You may be told that there’s ‘no procedure’ for assessments. This is completely false.
• You may met with blank looks. Many people who work in health and social care don’t know the rules and some choose to ignore them.
• You may be told by your local NHS that it’s a local authority matter. And you may be told by your local authority that it’s an NHS matter. This kind of buck-passing is, sadly, all too common.
• You may read in the press that you always have to pay for care if you have some savings. This is false.

It can be a minefield out there. Do your research – and use the pages on this site to help you. Read more here about paying for care and free NHS care.