There are many ways to fund your care. We’ve outlined below the different options for funding and where you can go to get the help you need.
Once you have arranged your care funding, we would be pleased to discuss creating your personal and bespoke care service with you.
Some people with long-term complex health needs qualify for free healthcare care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This is known as NHS continuing Healthcare.
NHS Continuing Healthcare can be provided outside hospital, such as in your own home.
To be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a multidisciplinary team). Integrated Care Boards, known as ICBs (the NHS organisations that commission local health services), must assess you for NHS Continuing Healthcare if it seems that you may need it.
For most people, there’s an initial checklist assessment, which is used to decide if you need a full assessment. However, if you need care urgently – for example, if you’re terminally ill – your assessment may be fast-tracked.
Find your local Integrated Care Board (ICB).
The team will look at all your care needs and relate them to:
Your eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition.
If you’re eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare, the next stage is to arrange a care and support package that meets your assessed needs. We would be pleased to discuss creating your personal and bespoke care service with you. Please get in touch with our Commercial Team.
Depending on your situation, different options could be suitable for you, including support in your own home and the option of a personal health budget.
Find out more about NHS Continuing Healthcare
Children and young people
NHS Continuing Healthcare is for adults. Children and young people may receive a “Continuing Care Package” if they have needs arising from disability, accident or illness that cannot be met by existing universal or specialist services alone.
Find out more about the Children and Young People’s Continuing Care National Framework.
A personal health budget is an amount of money to support your health and wellbeing needs, which is planned and agreed between you (or someone who represents you), and your local NHS team.
A personal health budget is for your NHS healthcare and support needs and allows you to manage your healthcare and support such as treatments, equipment and personal care, in a way that suits you. It works in a similar way to personal budgets, which allow people to manage and pay for their social care needs.
Personal health budgets offer the opportunity to work in equal partnership with the NHS about how your health and wellbeing needs can best be met. They are one way to have choice and control of your healthcare and support and gives you the opportunity to choose your healthcare provider.
Find out more about Personal Health Budgets.
With a Personal Budget, you will be given an agreed amount to spend if your local council decide you’re eligible for help with any social care and support you need. A direct payment is one way of managing these budgets. It’s when you get the money directly to buy the agreed care and support you need rather than the council arranging it for you.
You can request an assessment from the council to establish your needs.
A needs assessment helps to work out:
The money in your personal budget can be paid to you, to help you make more decisions about how it’s spent. This is known as a direct payment.
Find out more about Personal Budgets.
If you’re a carer, you may be entitled to receive a personal budget after having a carer’s assessment to see what might help make your life easier.
A carer’s assessment is free and anyone over 18 can ask for one.
You might be eligible for your local council to pay towards the cost of your care. Exactly how much your council will pay depends on what care you need and how much you can afford to pay.
To find out if the local council will pay towards your care, the first step is for your council to do an an assessment to check how much help you need. This is called a needs assessment.
The needs assessment is free and anyone can ask for one. Find out more about getting a needs assessment.
If you need care, the council will then do a financial assessment (means test) to work out what you will have to pay towards the cost of your care.
The means test works out if:
The financial assessment is free. You don’t need to book it – it will be arranged for you after your needs assessment. Read more about the financial assessment.
Find out more about when the council might pay for your care.
You may wish to pay for your own care if you are able to afford the costs yourself or if you are not entitled to any funding from your local council.
You can request a financial assessment (means test) to check if you qualify for any help with costs.
Read more about getting a financial assessment.
You can also choose to pay for care yourself if you don’t want a financial assessment.
You can:
Even if you choose to pay for your care, your council can do an assessment to help identify what care you might need. This is called a needs assessment. For example, it will tell you whether you need home help from a paid carer for 2 hours a day or 2 hours a week and precisely what they should help you with.
The needs assessment is free and anyone can ask for one. Find out more about getting a needs assessment
Find out more about funding your own care – self funding.
We would be pleased to discuss creating your personal and bespoke care service with you. Please get in touch with our Commercial Team.
Neil and his family chose to apply for a Personal Health Budget to give them greater choice and control over the care Neil received and the freedom to make personal choices around his routine and social activities. Read Neil’s story here.
