Implementing the Community Care Act

In August 1993, Laing & Buisson wrote to all local authorities in Britain requesting information about the level of care home fees they are willing to pay, details of their contract terms and data on the number of placements in the first three months of the new community care funding system. Responses were received from 108 of 133 local authorities in Britain. After collation, each was asked to verify details derived from their responses. The resulting data gives a comprehensive picture of the emerging market following the implementation of the community care reforms in April 1993. Also included are the results of a survey of the occupancy levels of major care home chains before and three months after the reforms. The information on baseline fees (fees that the local authority is normally prepared to pay for individuals for whom they accept financial responsibility) reported by the 108 local authorities is for both nursing home care and residential home care for specified client groups - elderly, dependent elderly, elderly mentally infirm, recovering mentally ill, learning disabilities, physically disabled below pension age, terminally ill and alcohol/drug dependent.
The information on local authority contracts incorporates a summary of the key features of care home contracts for each of the 53 responding local authorities, together with a commentary on the principal inter-authority variations. The analysis of occupancy levels before and three months after the introduction of the community care reforms is based on responses from 76 for-profit and 16 not-for-profit care home providers with three or more homes. It also includes an analysis of numbers of placements by local authorities in the three months from 1 April 1993 to 30 June 1993.