The courts are often called upon to sanction treatment for patients whose ability to make...
The Care Act is the most significant piece of legislation covering social care to have entered the statute books since the Community Care Act came into being during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
There has been been great concern over the years as to the impact long term care has on an elderly person's home and savings. In five years one million homes have been sold to pay for the increased costs of care.
What is worse is the number of so called "self funders" ie anyone with over £23,250 of savings pay far more than those placements for people with less savings funded by local authorities. In essence the middle class subsidising care homes because of the reduced fees which Local Authorities are able to negotiate.
So has the Care Act done anything to address these problems? It certainly has the potential to be a good piece of legislation as it introduces the concept of "well being" where councils need to be making decisions that will make life better for individual residents. It also introduces, among other things, a nationwide eligibility criteria which is something sadly lacking under the current rules. Unfortunately for the Act to work well it will need real money and therein lies the problem, particularly in this age of austerity.
It is in the sphere of funding care where the Act particularly falls down. There has been much debate about the so called Care Cap. This has meant that moving forward there will be two calculations needed when someone is receiving care. One being the actual calculation as to how much the individual will have to pay and one on the amount being deducted from the individual's care cap.
The legislation also allows local authorities to secure loans on a resident's property to pay for the home fees. Despite the fanfare which accompanied this so called reform this was previously available under the old system. The difference being that the authorities are now able to charge interest on the loan.
The whole area of funding has become very complicated and cynics would say deliberately done so to confuse the middle class voter, an increasingly important element of the electorate.
Despite anything that is said to the contrary it is unlikely that the Care Act will stop the number of homes being sold for care. It may be that the property will not have to be sold when the resident is alive but the likely position will be that there will be little or no equity left in the house when the family inherits it.
Clarkson Wright and Jakes run monthly seminars where the Care Act will be fully explained together with steps that you can take to protect your home for your family.