Help with funding

At Bluebird Care UK, we understand how important it is to have the right level of care and support at home. You may need:

• Advice about the care and support you need
• Information about the services available
• Information about funding the costs of your home care

See our page ‘Arranging your homecare & support' for advice on choosing the right kind of service for you. Here we give you some information about how you can meet the costs of your home care.

Self-funding

Many people pay for their home care and support using their own private funds or with help from family or friends. Bluebird Care has partnered with Care Planning Services who can provide trusted advice to help support the payment of your care. For more information, please visit our Care Planning Services page.

NHS Continuing Healthcare

If you have a long term medical condition that requires substantial continuing health care at home, then you may be entitled to have your home care costs paid for by the NHS.

You must be over 18 years of age and have a primary health need. This means your main need for home care and support must be due to your health. If you are assessed as needing continuing healthcare then, as with other NHS services, the care you receive will be free. Unlike social care it will not be dependent on your ability to pay.

In practice it is often difficult to judge whether a person’s need for home care and support is because they have a primary health care need. For example, many people with dementia are not eligible.

The first step is to ask for an assessment by a health professional or social worker. They will using a short screening tool to see if you may qualify for NHS continuing healthcare. If this suggests you may be eligible, they will refer you for a full assessment using a decision support tool.

You and your family will be fully involved in this assessment alongside other professionals related to your health care and support. You will be able to see a copy of the decision support tool and the assessment questions that you will discuss together. You will receive a letter confirming the decision.

Health Cover Insurance

If you have health insurance check to see if this covers you for home care and support.

Social Services

Ask your local adult social services department of your local authority for an assessment to see what practical support they may be able to offer. UK law entitles adults in need of care and support to an assessment.  

A member of staff (often a registered manager) will talk to you about your health, the home care you need, what support you currently have and the things that are important to you about how you live your life.

If you are an unpaid carer providing substantial care for someone, social services will look at your needs as well as the person you provide care for. You should be able to have a separate carer’s assessment in the following situations:

• Where you are providing regular and substantial care to someone
• When the person you are looking after is someone who may be entitled to community care services
• As part of the process of assessment when the person you are looking after is being discharged from hospital
• When you are looking after someone with mental health problems who is on the Care Programme Approach
• As a parent carer of a disabled child under 18, if the assessment of the child does not fully take account of your needs

The above assessments will be used to determine your home care and support needs. You may choose to use this information to find out more about the services available and then independently make your own arrangements.

Alternatively, the local authority will use the care assessment to measure whether you meet their criteria for help with home care and support services. This is called the ‘eligibility’ criteria. If you meet the eligibility criteria, the local authority will then carry out a further assessment of your financial situation to see whether you will be charged for the home care and support and if so, how much. 

Types of support that the local authority may be able to provide include practical help and personal care from care agencies such as Bluebird Care, mobility aids to help the person be more independent, or respite care to give you a break.

Personal budget/direct payments

If you are entitled to care and support funded by the local authority, you may receive a direct payment or a personal budget. The advantage of these types of payments is that you have more choice and control over the services you use.

Direct payments are cash payments to cover the cost of services that you have been assessed as needing. You can use these to directly employ your own personal assistant or to buy services from a registered care provider such as Bluebird Care.

Personal budgets refer to an allocated amount which you can either take as a direct payment or ask the council to buy home care services on your behalf.