The Care Act 2014 Caroline Baria Service Director, Personal Care and Support Adult Social Care Health & Public Protection Department

The following are central to the Care Act: A duty on councils to consider the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of individuals in need of care Putting people in control of their lives so they can pursue opportunities to realise their potential Helping to prevent and delay the need for care and support People have greater certainty and peace of mind over the costs of meeting care and support needs The underlying principles…

Changes from Care Act: 3 Broad Areas Introduction of a cap on care costs (£72,000) and care accounts Increase of upper threshold for state support (£118,000) Free care for those with needs before 18 Deferred Payments Prevention & Well-being Assessments and eligibility Legal Reform Safeguarding Market Shaping Personalisation Transitions SOCIAL CARE REFORMS From April 2015 DILNOT FINANCIAL REFORMS From April 2016 DILNOT FINANCIAL REFORMS From April 2016 INTEGRATION By April 2018 INTEGRATION By April 2018 Introduction of a cap on care costs (£72,000) Care Accounts Increase of upper threshold for state support (£118,000) Free care for those with needs before 18 Deferred Payments Prevention and Well-being Assessments and eligibility Legal reforms Adult Safeguarding Market shaping and provider failure Personalisation Transitions Integration between council social care services, the NHS and housing authorities

What are the changes? People have a legal right to a Personal Budget which is a statement about the amount of money needed to meet their social care needs New rights for carers including the right to an assessment of their needs, to information and advice, and the right to get support if they meet eligibility criteria; A new duty to provide preventative services to maintain people's health and wellbeing - services that prevent, delay or reduce the need for higher levels of care and support The Care Act 2014

identification of people in the local area who might have care and support needs that are not being met comprehensive information and advice about services so that people can make informed decisions about their care and support, including independent financial advice supporting a market of care providers for a wide range of high quality services so that people have choice transitions from children’s to adults’ services - promoting independence and reducing long term needs for care and support

a legal framework for adult safeguarding continuity of care and support for people who move to different geographical areas support to self funders - people who have eligible needs where they fund their own social care and support - once they reach a cap of £72,000, to be adjusted annually councils will be required to carry out their care and support functions with the aim of integrating services with those provided by the NHS and any other health related services such as housing

What does this mean for people who fund their own care? Part two of the Care Act introduces funding reforms: councils will be required to pay for services to meet the eligible care needs of people who have been funding their own care and support, once they reach a cap – set at £72,000, excluding £12,000 per year for ‘hotel costs’ people who fund their own care have a right to seek a financial assessment to determine their eligible costs councils will be required to set up ‘Care Accounts’ for self funders councils will be required to have in place Deferred Payments agreements so that people don’t have to sell their home in their lifetime to meet care costs

So what does the Care Act mean for patients and carers? The emphasis in the Care Act is to promote people’s wellbeing by ensuring that services help them to stay well and remain independent The Act seeks to bring consistency and equity: - national eligibility criteria - support to carers - transportability of assessments across geographical areas - transitions planning from children’s services to adult care services and continuity of care Integration with the NHS and with housing authorities

Next steps… The Council has a small team of staff working on the implementation programme and a service user and carer involvement group is being established to contribute to the implementation of the Act in Nottinghamshire On 30 May 2014 the Department of Health launched a formal consultation on Part One of the Care Act and is keen to hear from patients and carers. The consultation closes on 15 August The consultation document can be accessed via the Department of Health website on: