Decision details

Date of Decision:

12 April 2021

Decision Maker:

(Including Job Title)

Anne Marie Lubanski

Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health

Specific Delegation:

(If any)

Non-specific

Brief Description of Decision:

1)    Anyone eligible for the interim NHS hospital discharge funding scheme that commenced in March 2020 will not be expected to make client care contribution costs until 12 April 2021

2)    Anyone who has been already assessed and who has moved off the interim NHS funding, and has been making a financial contribution towards their care costs will be reimbursed their full client care contribution costs from the date they became eligible for the NHS funding until 11 April 2021 – inclusive.

3)    No back dated client contribution charges will be applied for anyone whose care services were incorrectly recorded as interim NHS funding codes but who were not eligible for the scheme.

4)    Anyone eligible to make a client contribution, and who still on the NHS funding scheme will become liable for their client care contribution cost from 12 April 2021

Reasons for the Decision:

As a result of the COVID19 pandemic interim NHS funding was introduced in March 2020 to facilitate timely discharges from hospital.

The new process for hospital discharge (and associated funding) created additional work as not everyone discharged on these schemes would have required a full reassessment under normal circumstances. Due to the additional workload there have been delays in completing the required assessments and updating the social care system.  The Council’s Charging Policy is that client contributions are backdated in line with the start date for care.  In this case this would mean backdating to the date of transition (assessment date) when NHS funding ceases and local funding arrangements resume.

At the point the NHS discharge funding ends, client contributions become payable if determined by an assessment. This could result in backdated charges arising.

The Council’s charging policy was designed for “business as usual” circumstances and does not account for the impact of a pandemic.  The decision not to charge during the period of delay ensures that people are treated fairly in the exceptional circumstances that have occurred. 

Is in accordance with the principles set out in the government guidance “Responding to COVID-19: the ethical framework for adult social care” Published 19 March 2020.

Due to the urgency of the decision the Leader used the authority invested him as ‘senior executive member’ under section 9E Local Government Act 1972 to authorise that the Strategic Director -Adult Care, Housing and Public Health should take this decision. It also complies with the Constitution at 7(6) special urgency due to the nature of the decision

A report will be made to Cabinet at its meeting on 21 June that will set out the decision taken and the reasons for the procedure that was used to take the decision.

Details of alternative options considered and rejected:

1)    To backdate client charges to the transition date in line with Council’s charging policy on charging from the service start date.

2)    To charge from the date of review (assessment date).

Conflicts of interest declared by any Executive Member consulted by the decision maker which relates to the decision:

None

Dispensations Granted:

(If any)

Reports or parts of reports considered

Briefing Paper – Strategic Director Finance and Customer Services – 26 March 2021