Dementia Support Line
Information
What can you do if a council changes your homecare package without a new assessment?
Local authorities must meet a person’s assessed eligible needs.
Question:
‘Our local authority has suddenly said it’s reducing Dad’s homecare visits. I’m worried how he’ll cope with less support – what can we do?’
Answer:
If your local authority has been providing homecare visits for your dad, it sounds like it’s assessed his needs previously and decided what support he’s eligible for.
Under the Care Act 2014 in England and similar laws in Wales and Northern Ireland, the local authority or trust must meet a person’s assessed eligible needs.
The local authority has come up with the current package and it can’t change that without reassessing his needs.
If you were in Northern Ireland, this would also apply to the local health and social care trust.
What can you do?
Ask the local authority to explain its decision in writing. The current package reflects your dad’s most recent (or only) needs assessment.
If the local authority says his needs have changed, it needs to reassess before changing his package.
Your dad should have been given a written copy of his last needs assessment and the care plan based on this. You can refer to this when contacting the local authority.
If he doesn’t have it, request a copy now. In the meantime, still tell the local authority that it shouldn’t be changing your dad’s care package without a reassessment.
What if that fails?
Ask the local authority about its complaints process – ultimately, you could take it to the relevant ombudsman.
In a recent case, the ombudsman in England stated, ‘Councils cannot change care packages at short notice and without making the proper assessments.’
You could also ask a solicitor about possible legal action. Unlike the complaints process, consulting a solicitor will cost money. Make sure you get a clear estimate of costs before going ahead, which the solicitor must provide.
Solicitors for the Elderly may help you find a suitable solicitor.
What if there’s a reassessment?
If your dad is reassessed, the local authority should follow specific processes to do this that are set down in law. It should involve your dad and also you as his carer.
If the local authority offers more, less or the same level of support, this should be based on what the reassessment of his needs finds.
NHS continuing healthcare
If your dad hasn’t been assessed for NHS continuing healthcare, then this is worth thinking about.
There’s no guarantee that he’ll get it, but it could fund a care package at home as well as residential care.
It’s funded by the NHS rather than the local authority or trust, and it isn’t means tested.