Care Fees and Funding can be something that's difficult to get your head
around. Here's a few of our Frequently Asked Questions which will
hopefully make it simpler for you to understand.
Do I need care?
If you, a friend or relative is in need of
care, you can ask Social Services to carry out what is called an assessment of
your/their needs. Once informed that somebody may need care, the authority,
often jointly with the Health Authority or GP, has a duty to carry out an
assessment. This may reveal that you or your friend/relative need care at home
or in a residential setting.
If the State is
paying, do I have a choice of care home?
Yes, you do. You can choose a State home, a
private home or one owned by a charity. It does not have to be in the same
county as your Local Authority so if you wish to move to be near friends or
relatives you can do so. However, there are conditions. The home you choose
must be suitable for your assessed needs, it must comply with any terms and
conditions set by the authority and, often the stumbling block, it must not
cost any more than the Local Authority would usually pay for someone with your
assessed needs.
Details of our prices can be found here:
Ashmere Price List
Valley Lodge Price List
Do I have
to pay for my care?
If you have capital of below £23,250, you may be entitled to some
assistance from the State towards your care costs.
First your Social Services department will carry out an assessment of
your care needs. If you are assessed as needing nursing home or residential care, you
will be asked to claim any Income Support benefits or Pension credit you may be
entitled to and these will be taken into account in a means test to ascertain
how much you can afford to pay.
Normally you will have to pay all your income towards the fees, less
£22.30 per week you must retain for personal expenses.
Private
Care Homes Care Fees
If you have a capital over £23,250, the costs for care are solely your
responsibility to pay, if / when the capital falls below this amount Social
Services will then need to be informed, who will then arrange a financial
assessment to be carried out and Social Services will then begin funding.
Ashmere Care Homes are all registered Quality Premium Homes, which means
that Social Service will pay an amount to the home, and also the Home will
invoice you for an amount, making a total weekly fee.
Your Contribution to the Home will be based on the allowances that you
are claiming for, so you will not pay an amount that is over your Allowances
that you are receiving, this should also leave you with £22.30 for your own
personal allowance.
If funded by the Social Services please note that Ashmere charge a Top
Up Fee of £30.00 per week, this covers anything that the Client requires whilst
in our Home e.g. Hairdressing, Chiropodist, Physiotherapist, Toiletries. The
£30.00 also compensates for the deficiency of the Derbyshire County Council
fee.
What is the personal
expenses allowance?
This is the fixed amount of
money you must be allowed to keep for your personal expenses. It should not be
used to top-up care fees.
Will Social
Services pay my fees whilst I am selling the property?
Yes, if you have other capital of below
£23,250, there is provision for the Local Authority to help you while your
property is on the market.
You will be asked to claim any Pension Credit you
may be entitled to bringing your income up to £137.35 of which you keep £22.30
per week for personal expenses and contribute the balance of £115.05 towards
your care fees.
For the first twelve weeks of permanent residence
in a care home the local authority ignore the value of your property. Beyond
that period the balance that Social Services lay out on your behalf will form a
charge against the property and be recovered from the sale proceeds.
Upon Admission to Ashmere Derbyshire
When you have contacted the Home required, the Manager will arrange to
come and see you to do an Assessment. This will determine the needs required
and the banding for Fees.
You will then be invited to the Home to choose the room, you will be
given the Residency Terms and Conditions, and care fees will be discussed
either by The Manager of the Home or alternatively a member of our Head
Office team can speak to you regarding the funding and answer any queries
you may have regarding funding, payment, invoicing, bank standing orders.
Ashmere’s Terms and Conditions can be found on the reverse of all
Invoices and the Resident Contract, this will be given to you on admission to
the Home the contract which will require signing upon admission.
If you are funded by the local authority the Ashmere contract will be
issued once we have received the contract from Derbyshire County Council,
informing us of how much we need to collect from you each week, together with invoices.
We base our invoicing on a Calendar Monthly Amount which is calculated
as follows:- Take the weekly amount due and divide it into a daily charge, this
amount is then multiplied by the number of days in the year to give the total
amount due for the next financial year. This yearly figure is then divided by
twelve to give the amount due on the first of each month.
If you would like help with arranging funding then we have a number of useful contacts in Eldercare Group, NHFA and Care Aware that would be able to offer you advice.