Can social care services agree a contract for at home care between just social care services and the care provider?
Son never signed contract and now social care council are demanding full charges when they know only 1/2 of verbal agreement of contract has been given.
Is that fair?
First of all was there an assessment of needs or a strength based assessment under the Care Act (2014).
I am assuming this is not under aftercare services under The Mental Health Act (1983).
If there is a need for domiciliary services, the assessor should inform the client/service user that there needs to be a financial assessment.
If the person has savings above £23, 250. Then you pay full costs of provision of service.
If no one has informed the client that they need to pay depending on financial assessment. Then the local authority has caused itself a maladministration error. For which you inform the Ombudsman of.
The Ombudsman can decide if one has to pay or not, or award compensation.
Hi Rachel, assuming the provision is to meet assessed care needs, the contract to provide the service is between the care provider and the local authority, who are responsible for ensuring the costs are met, so it is not a legal requirement for the client to sign. The authority is legally entitled to assess the client’s ability to pay and to charge accordingly, within the financial limits laid down in law. However, as Kyle says, the client- or if they lack capacity, their attorney under an LPA, if that’s what has happened here- is entitled to know in advance what that charge is going to be, and have the opportunity to raise concerns, look for other care providers (subject to paying a top-up) or even to refuse the care altogether if they don’t want to pay the assessed contribution. The Ombudsman was critical of a local authority which placed someone into a care home without their attorney knowing how much it would cost, and then being shocked when the bills arrived. So in your case the son’s written agreement wouldn’t have been a necessary part of the legal contract with the care provider, but rather an acknowledgeement of the contribution that the client will be liable to pay, together with a confirmation that they have understood the terms under which the care is being provided. For this reason local authorities, and care providers, often want the client or attorney to sign the contract to confirm they agree it.