Nursing home fees are incredibly expensive. In England and Wales the average cost of a nursing home per week is quoted as being £1,600, or £83,000 a year.
Contact our team of experts at Compass Continuing healthcare today to see if your relative is entitled to their nursing care home costs being met in full by the NHS. Our office number is 0800 008 7777. Alternatively please complete our FREE online assessment and we will contact you.
Nursing home fees are incredibly expensive. In England and Wales the average cost of a nursing home per week is quoted as being £1,600, or £83,000 a year. This figure is often even higher still in certain areas, and where the individual has complex care needs and requires a specialist EMI home the weekly costs can exceed £2,000.
Many people are not unduly concerned about financing the cost of their care or that of an elderly relative as they are simply unaware of how high the costs are, or indeed that they will have to pay. It is a common misconception that the NHS will pay for the nursing care home costs of each individual if they require 24 / 7 care. It is only when the particular individual is faced with the reality of a relative having to go into a nursing home that they realise this is not the case and the financial burden can be astronomical.
The basic position is that if an individual has assets exceeding £23,250 and their need for care is not a health need they will be expected to pay the full cost of their care. Even once their assets fall below £23,250 they will still have to contribute towards their care costs until the assets dip to £14,000. Thereafter even when the assets hit £14,000 the individual will have to contribute towards the cost of their care from any income they have such as a pension.
The exception to this rule is where the individual’s need for care is primarily a health need the NHS are obligated to step in and meet the full nursing care home costs. The funding provided is called continuing healthcare funding.
The problem is that NHS continuing healthcare funding is becoming increasingly difficult to secure. The NHS are reluctant to provide this funding if they can avoid it because it is very expensive for them, in the same manner that it is very expensive for the individual. Given that it is the NHS conducted the assessments to determine whether they, the NHS, are liable for paying the nursing care home costs, there is obviously a risk that an eligible individual will be denied funding because the needs are underscored or a higher bar to satisfy eligibility is applied.
Often it is necessary to undertaken the appeals procedure where an incorrect decision on an individual’s entitlement to continuing healthcare funding has been made. To ensure you stand the strongest prospect of success in such a scenario you should contact the Compass Continuing Healthcare team for expert advice. We have a high success rate of overturning negative decisions made in relation to continuing healthcare funding, as well as assisting in securing the funding from day 1 before the patient has even been discharged from hospital.
Do not wait until a negative decision has been made, let us assist in securing the funding from the outset and influence a positive decision in the patient’s favour. Contact us today and take the first step towards free nursing care home costs. Complete our free online assessment to allow us to consider the particular facts of your case or call us today on 0800 008 7777.
Author: Tim Davies LLB
