A guide to funding your care home stay

How you fund your care home place will depend on your care needs and individual circumstances. There are three funding options to choose from:

1. Self-funded Care – People with assets over the Government savings threshold of £23,250 will be considered a ‘self-funder’ and eligible to fund their own care.
2. Local Authority Funded Care – You might be eligible for the local council to pay towards the cost of your care, depending on the total amount you have in savings. Exactly how much your council will pay depends on what care you need and how much you can afford to pay.
3. Care funded by Health (Continuing Healthcare) – You may be entitled to care funded by NHS Continuing Healthcare – this is a fully-funded package of care that some people are entitled to receive as a result of disability, accident or illness. It covers the full cost of the person’s care and residential accommodation.

If you are unsure which funding option is right for you, you can discuss this with the care home manager upon enquiry or contact Adult Social Care, who will provide information and complete a financial assessment.

During your stay, if your care needs are assessed by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) following admission and you require nursing care, you may be entitled to Funded Nursing Care (FNC).

This is a weekly payment made by the ICB to care homes with nursing, to help cover the cost of registered nursing care that is provided to residents. We will complete the necessary assessment framework to apply for this funding, and a nurse assessor from the relevant Integrated Care board will then determine whether you are eligible for FNC funding.

If you are found to be eligible, the funding is claimed by and paid to Brunelcare on top of the weekly fee already agreed at admission. This will not affect the amount you need to pay, and you will continue to pay the weekly fee agreed on admission.

If the FNC is decreased or stopped (other than where you have been temporarily admitted to hospital or in the period after death), we may need to increase our fees to cover our costs and will inform you of this.

If the person requiring a care home place does not have mental capacity, then next of kin or significant other will only be able to access funds to pay for care if they have these legal rights in place regarding property and affairs.

Your weekly fee will include:

• Your room
• Heat and light
• Personal care and ongoing care reviews
• Meals (with a choice of menus), snacks and drinks
• Access to lounges and gardens
• Bedding and towels including laundry (excludes dry cleaning)
• Liaison with relevant outside agencies such as medical practitioners and district nurses
• Activities, including routine trips out of the home
• Access to Wi-Fi
• Annual testing of personal electrical equipment

The following services, if required, will come at an additional cost:

• Personal items such as toiletries, newspapers, flowers, or smoking and vaping materials
• Health and beauty services such as hairdressing, dental care, manicures, beauty treatments etc.
• Special outings not included in the routine trips e.g. theatre tickets

It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list but are examples of typical additional services.

Where it is necessary to provide additional care or medical services to you, such as one-to-one care for periods of the day or being accompanied to appointments, in which a member of staff (either from Brunelcare or external resource) is dedicated to your care, an additional charge will be made for this and agreed upon separate to the fees agreed upon admission. This will not be introduced without your consent, except in exceptional circumstances, in which case we will seek consent as soon as reasonably practicable.

Fees are paid using our easy-to-set-up direct debit facility; this will be discussed with you when you join us.