Guildford Living Feb - Mar 2020

social care needs
Social care seems to be in the
news a lot at the moment, often,
unfortunately, in conjunction with
the word ‘crisis’. Given that if you
need care it’s a necessity, it makes
sense to understand the basics – well
before that time might come.
Social care is there to support you because
you need some extra help with daily living
or are caring for someone who requires
additional help themselves. There are a
wide range of social care services, including
care in your home or in a care home, live-in
care services, day centres, home adaptions
like handrails, and technology of various
kinds.
The first step if you or your loved one
needs some extra help and support is
to ask your local authority to carry out a
needs assessment. You might have to wait
several weeks at least for this, because
councils are strapped for cash and staff,
but it’s important to have it because it’s the
gateway to the wider system. Someone
from the council usually visits to establish
the type of support you might need. There’s
no charge and the assessor will create a
care plan specific to your needs.
When the type of care you need is decided
and agreed the next stage is to establish
how it will be paid for through a financial
means test - which can be complex and
quite confusing. Social care isn’t a free
service provided by the NHS as many
people think. Most of us have to pay for
all or some of our care and the amount
depends on the level of need and the value
of any assets we have.
Your home will not be included in the means
test if you’re arranging care and support
at home but other capital assets, including
savings will be. Currently, if you have more
capital that £23,250 you will have to pay all
your care fees. If you have under £23,250,
you’ll get financial assistance but may have
to contribute from your income.
The cost of care varies by area but it is not
unusual to have to pay about £20 an hour
for a care worker to come to your home
(domiciliary care) to help you with, say,
getting up, washing and dressing, if that’s
what you need. You can see how the bills
add up if you need more than one visit
every day.
It is also possible that rather than
‘personal care’ you need a different kind of
support, such as companionship, because
you are very alone and lonely. If so, in
some places the council may refer you to
a scheme run by a charity like Age UK,
where you might have to pay a modest
amount to take part.
If your needs are such that it is best for
you to move permanently into a care home
your property, if you own one, will be
included in the means test at its present
market value, but less any mortgage
or loan you may have on it. However, it
will not be included if your partner still
lives there or, in certain circumstances, a
relative. Your home is also not included if
you need a temporary or short-term stay
in a care home. Two in five of all the older
people living in care homes now pay for
their own care.
To avoid property or other assets being
counted in the financial means test, some
people consider giving them away to a
child or grandchild. However, this could
be interpreted as ‘deliberate deprivation
of assets’, and your local authority may
still ask you to pay the same level of care
fees as if you still owned your home or
the other assets you have given away. It
is really important to take advice if you are
thinking of doing something of this kind.
If you do have to pay towards a care
home place it is possible to avoid selling
your property during your lifetime in order
to release the money required, namely a
deferred payment which endures while
you are alive. The council provides a loan
for your care costs secured against your
property and this is repaid either when
the property is sold or from your estate
after you have passed away. There is an
interest charge if you choose to do this
but every council is supposed to offer a
scheme of this kind, even though relatively
few people take advantage of it, possibly
because they do not know it exists.
If you have care needs and you are
not already claiming a benefit called
Attendance Allowance it is always
worth doing so. This benefit is there for
older people, to help offset the costs of
disability. In practice, many older people
use their AA to help fund their social care.
Your local Age UK can help you fill in the
forms and will be pleased to help. AA
is paid at two rates, £58 or £87 a week,
depending on your needs.
As you can see, finding social care and
paying for it is not straight forward and
there are lots of questions to ask, but Age
UK can guide you through the process
and provides independent information and
advice. If you are online there’s a lot about
care on our website, or there’s a free
advice line if you prefer to talk to someone
instead. Visiting your local Age UK is a
third option.
Social care has a bad reputation at the
moment, largely because it is underfunded
and there isn’t enough to go round. You
may also have read horror stories in the
press of care workers being neglectful.
Please don’t be put off seeking care
though - there are many wonderful care
workers. It pays to get advice and go
into it with your eyes open, but there are
hundreds of thousands of older people
whose lives are immeasurably better
because of the good care they receive.
Caroline Abrahams
Charity Director, Age UK
www.ageuk.org.uk/
information-advice/care
46 | www.guildfordliving.co.uk