Arranging care in Lancashire
Lancashire County Council is the upper tier authority for much of the North West, covering a wide sweep of towns including Preston, Burnley, Blackburn, Lancaster, Accrington, Nelson, Chorley, Clitheroe and Ormskirk. From the coastal edges of Morecambe Bay to the mill towns of Pendle and the rural Ribble Valley, the geography here is varied, and so are the care needs of the people who live in it.
As a County Council, Lancashire is responsible for adult social care across its area. If you or a relative are starting to think about support, the first step is to contact Lancashire County Council's adult social care team and ask for a needs assessment. This is free, and it is not means tested. A social care worker will look at daily tasks, mobility, safety at home and mental wellbeing to work out what kind of support would help, whether that is help at home, a short stay for reablement, or a move into a care home.
Paying for care and choosing a provider
If the assessment shows you need support, Lancashire will then carry out a financial assessment to see how much you contribute. This follows the national framework, where savings and, in the case of permanent residential care, the value of your home may be taken into account above certain thresholds. People with means above the upper limit usually self fund, while those below may have their care partly or fully arranged by the council. Deferred payment agreements, direct payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare are all options worth asking about.
The local care market is one of the largest in the North West, with around 695 CQC registered care homes across Lancashire. That gives families a genuine choice between residential care homes for personal support, nursing homes for people with ongoing clinical needs, and home care services that let someone stay in familiar surroundings. Fees vary by town and by the level of support provided, but as a rough guide home care in Lancashire tends to sit around £20 to £25 an hour, residential care homes around £800 to £1,000 a week, and nursing homes higher again at roughly £1,000 to £1,300 a week where nursing input is required.
If you are just starting out, a call to Lancashire County Council is a sensible first move, alongside browsing local providers to get a feel for what is available near you.
