denotes premium content | Dec 4 2008 Elderly Client Adviser archive
Volume 7 Issue 5
Care home closures remain a cause for real concern this month. The issue has been particularly highlighted by the shocking case of 108-year-old Alice Knight who starved herself to death in protest at having to move from one home to another. Iain Duncan Smith has used the case as an example of the deepening crisis in care homes brought about, he claims, by the burden of regulation forcing many homes out of business.
Nursing homes have certainly been quick to criticise the regulatory framework as brought about under the Care Standards Act 2000, claiming that under-funding has left them unable to meet the demands of the Act. Problems have been exacerbated by the change to free nursing care implemented in October last year. Residents, families and legal groups continue to complain that residents are not seeing the benefits of the change and the government now intends to amend section 5 of the Care Homes Regulations 2001 to ensure that residents receive clearer information on the payment of fees. Time will tell whether such steps will improve the situation.
Meanwhile, guidance for domiciliary charging continues to generate confusion, particularly in regard to the power of local authorities to demand information on the resources of partners. In this issue, Pauline Thompson of Age Concern battles with the guidance to unravel the areas that advisers need to know. It is expected that current variations in local authority charging processes will be brought into a uniform framework by the guidance. However, home care will need a significant boost if it is to become the credible alternative to nursing home care that the government hopes for.
Care in the home and nursing home care continues to face an uncertain future. In the long term, recent regulations will probably work to improve the current state of affairs although one cannot help wondering how long this might take when residents are evidently suffering ,here and now.
Caroline Poynton
Editor
Features
What is the new guidance on domiciliary charges likely to mean for your clients?
Charging for home and day care has been an issue largely managed by local authorities, which widely varied their charging policy according to their own view of ‘reasonable’ charges. The recent Department of Health guidance hopes to remedy this situation by providing a uniform framework for future care. Pauline Thompson, policy officer of community care finance at Age Concern, summarises the guidance and assesses its implications for your clients.
How to run an elderly client practice: part two
In the last issue of Elderly Client Adviser, Jennifer Margrave, a sole-practitioner, provided some tips on setting up an elderly client office. In the second part of this series of articles, Jennifer continues her discussion with a look at how practitioners should be approaching and dealing with their elderly clients.
The assessment of quantum in Inheritance Act claims
Family provision legislation was introduced by the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1938. At that time, there was little question of how to capitalise income requirements as the Court could only order periodic payments. Since then, however, there have been successive amendments to the Act and 1975 Act cases predominantly feature lump sum rather than periodic payment awards. Sidney Ross, a barrister at 11 Stone Buildings, begins this two-part article with an examination of payment awards over the years and how capitalisation of income needs have so far been approached.
Regulars
Preserving assets by using the deferred payment scheme
In certain situations it may be possible to mitigate the loss to a resident’s estate by utilising the availability of the deferred payment scheme. With property prices still rising on a national basis, low interest returns and a volatile stock market, Caroline Bielanska, solicitor, TEP and freelance consultant, assesses how it may be preferable to retain the resident’s home rather than selling and liquidating the proceeds.
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