This site has been developed with the support of Wakefield Healthwatch citizen’s panel and partner organisations across Wakefield District. If you have any feedback on the site please email adultsocialcare@wakefield.gov.uk
- Home
- Staying Independent
- Paying for Care
Paying for Care
How you pay for your care will depend on your own financial circumstances and your care needs.
- You, or someone you care for, contact Social Care Direct - Wakefield Council on 0345 8 503 503 to make an initial enquiry about your current situation.
- You will have a conversation with a trained staff member to discuss your care and support needs - this is known as a Care Act Assessment.
- You will then have a further conversation about the different ways your care and support needs could be met and how much this will cost.
- A financial assessment will work out how it will be paid for. Depending on how much you have in savings and assets, you could be eligible for some financial support from the council.
The Citizens Advice Bureau provide advice online, by telephone, email and face to face.
The following national organisations provide impartial advice and information about paying for your care
- CareAware UK provides free advice on care fee funding for older people.
- First Stop Care Advice provides independent free advice and information about care and support.
- National Careline is a non-profit organisation, and provides information about care and support.
- Which? Elderly Care provides free impartial advice about care options.
- Age UK provide advice guides about paying for care.
From 1 October 2023*, the way people pay for their care and support will change.
The key changes of the Social Care Charging Reform mean:
- No one will have to pay more than £86,000 for their personal care costs - the amount you pay for your carers to help with tasks such as dressing, bathing, going to the toilet.
- Your ‘Daily Living Costs’ - things such as food, rent, accommodation costs, and energy bills (even if you are in a care home) will still be payable from your income. This is means tested to see if you can afford to pay this.
- If you have less than £100,000 in savings and assets you may be able to access financial support from Adult Social Care Services to meet your eligible care needs (subject to a social care assessment)
- Wakefield citizens with eligible adult social care needs will be able to ask Wakefield Council to arrange their care and support, at the rate the council pays for care - currently £607.76 per week for residential care and **£18.50 per hour for non-residential care such as home care (rates correct as at April 2022).
Wakefield Adult Social Care will create a ‘Care Account’ for you to keep a track of your eligible contributions and you will be able to see your own ‘Care Account’ and receive regular statements showing how much you have spent.
The Government is introducing these changes to make sure that people will no longer face unpredictable or unlimited care costs. These changes have not taken place yet and you do not need to take any action now.
The Government has put together some frequently asked questions to explain the upcoming changes and what this could mean for you.
* Self-funders currently in residential care will not be able to approach their council to commission (buy) their care for them under Section 18(3) of the Care Act until April 2025. People entering residential care from April 2023 onwards will be able to approach the council from 1 October 2023, to arrange care on their behalf from that date if they have eligible social care needs.
A PA is someone who is employed directly by an individual who has a disability or health care condition and lives independently in their own home.
Being a PA is different to other care roles. You work one-to-one with the person you support which means you can make a real difference to their life.