Arranging care in Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Council is the upper tier authority covering much of the East Midlands county, including Loughborough, Hinckley, Market Harborough, Coalville, Melton Mowbray and Lutterworth, along with the surrounding villages and rural communities. The neighbouring city of Leicester is served by its own unitary council, but many families across the wider area still look to Leicestershire County Council when they start planning care for an older relative or a family member with a long term condition.
If you think a loved one needs support, the first step is to contact the adult social care team at Leicestershire County Council and request a needs assessment. This assessment is free and is not means tested. A social care practitioner will look at everyday tasks such as washing, dressing, mobility, medication and how well someone is coping at home, then recommend the type of support that would help, whether that is home care, a move into one of the local residential care homes, or nursing homes for people with more complex medical needs.
If the assessment shows care is needed, a separate financial assessment follows to work out how much Leicestershire will contribute. Savings, property and income are all considered against the national capital thresholds. People with assets above the upper limit usually pay privately, those below the lower limit may have most costs met by the council, and many families fall somewhere in between with a shared contribution.
The local care market and typical costs
There are 326 CQC registered care homes across Leicestershire, giving families a genuine choice between smaller family run homes in market towns like Melton Mowbray and Lutterworth and larger providers around Loughborough, Hinckley and Coalville. As a rough guide, home care in the area tends to sit at around £20 to £25 per hour, residential care homes commonly range from £900 to £1,300 per week, and nursing homes are typically £1,100 to £1,600 per week depending on needs.
Funding routes include local authority support after assessment, NHS Continuing Healthcare for those with a primary health need, NHS funded Nursing Care, direct payments, deferred payment agreements secured against a property, and self funding. A short call to the council is often the clearest place to begin.
