Arranging care in Stockport
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council sits in Greater Manchester in the North West, and covers a mix of urban and semi rural communities including Stockport itself, Cheadle, Hazel Grove, Romiley and Marple. Whether a relative lives on a quiet street in Marple or closer to the town centre in Stockport, the same council team is responsible for adult social care across the borough.
How adult social care works locally
As a metropolitan borough, Stockport Council is the single point of contact for adult social care, rather than a two tier system split between a county and a district. Families usually start by contacting Stockport Council's adult social care team to request a needs assessment. This assessment is free and looks at how someone is managing day to day, whether that is help at home, support after a hospital stay at Stepping Hill, or a move into a care home.
If the assessment identifies eligible needs, a financial assessment follows to work out how much the person contributes towards their care. Stockport Council applies the national capital thresholds, so savings and assets are taken into account, and homeowners moving into residential care may need advice on property, deferred payment agreements and benefits such as Attendance Allowance.
The local care market and typical fees
There are around 138 CQC registered care homes across Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council's area, which gives families a genuine choice between smaller homes in villages like Romiley and larger providers closer to Cheadle and Hazel Grove. Alongside these, a wide network of home care agencies supports people who would prefer to stay in their own home for as long as possible.
As a rough guide for the North West, home care in Stockport typically costs around £20 to £28 per hour, residential care homes tend to sit around £900 to £1,200 per week, and nursing homes are usually £1,100 to £1,500 per week, with NHS funded nursing care contributing towards the nursing element where eligible. Funding routes include self funding, local authority support after means testing, NHS Continuing Healthcare for those with primarily health related needs, and direct payments if the family prefers to arrange care themselves.
