30th Apr 2014

We Don't Charge 'Top-Up' Fees at Tweed View Care Home

At Tweed View Care Home we believe that there should be NO additional charges or hidden fees. We charge all of our residents the same rate which is that set by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; not one penny more.

Around 176,000 people in England pay their own care home fees, whilst 142,000 - those with few assets and/or low incomes - have their care home place paid for them by their local authority.  

Councils have a legal duty to pay in full for a basic or ‘standard’ level of care for these individuals - and this basic level may vary with each individual, taking into account his or her physical, social and psychological needs as assessed by the council.

However a further 55,000 people are somewhere in-between these two positions: they have only part their care home fees paid by the council.  In addition, their family of friends pay so-called  ‘third party top-up’ fees to supplement the amount the council pays. Top-up fees are intended to allow relatives to pay a little extra for a care home place that is above and beyond the ‘standard’ level of care available from the council - perhaps to ensure a much -loved parent has a room with a view, or one that is larger than the norm in a particular home.

However some relatives are concerned that they are being asked to pay top-up fees because a council has told them it is required for any care. This is not because they have requested a higher standard of care. Often these relatives are told that the council will only pay a ‘standard rate’, when they explore potential local care homes, they may then discover that none has a suitable and available place that is within this standard rate and that a top-up is therefore required.

Some will choose to pay a top-up rather than complain, particularly since they are often already facing the enormous stress of having to help an ailing parent to move into a care home in the first place.

You can obtain the Northumbria Foundation Trust’s current fee rate by searching

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1057 - Inforsheets