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COVID-19 Webinars prepared in collaboration with the Dorset Children’s Foundation

A Parent’s Guide to Education, Health and Care Plans (https://vimeo.com/466170517)

In the UK, we have one of the most advanced education, health and social care systems in the world. It is no secret, however, that many NHS bodies and Local Authorities are struggling to meet the ever-increasing demand for community care services because of successive budget cuts.

The Coronavirus pandemic is sadly only going to make it even harder to access the vital services many depend upon to meet their care needs. In response to COVID-19, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Act 2020. Subsequent Regulations and Guidance have given effect to the provisions of the new legislation, which changes access to health and social care.

Headline changes remaining effective include:

A simplified Hospital Discharge procedure whereby the focus of Discharge to Assess is on discharging patients deemed medically safe for discharge from Hospital the same day.
Any care package provided to facilitate a speedy discharge from Hospital is to be funded by the NHS. This means it should be provided on a non-means tested basis, for a period of up to 6 weeks. Guidance suggests that only in rare circumstances should the 6 week funded period be extended. During this period, assessments should be completed to determine if a patient is eligible for non-means tested NHS Continuing Healthcare, or, if the patient presents with social care needs requiring support from a Local Authority.
The previous alterations to Local Authorities’ statutory duties under the Care Act 2014 in relation to adult social care, the temporary suspension on NHS Continuing Healthcare related processes and changes to the special educational needs legal framework contained within the Children & Families Act 2014 have ceased.

For more information about how to access special educational needs provision, health and social care, please click on the links to our dedicated pages in the side bar on the right hand side of this page.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Community Care specialists, for a free, no obligation consultation today.

Coronavirus Act 2020 Community Care Resources

How can a community care case be funded?

There are a variety of funding options for community care cases. These include:

A retainer on a time-spent or hourly rate basis. This means we provide an estimate of the likely cost of dealing with an issue and you pay for the time-spent on the case, charged at the hourly rate of the responsible lawyer(s).
A retainer on a time-spent or hourly rate basis with deferred payment terms. In the case of a client who has a personal injury or clinical negligence claim, an agreement to recover the costs incurred on a time-spent basis through the compensation claim may be available.
A retainer on a fixed fee basis. This means our community care solicitors agree a fixed fee at the outset to address your instructions.
CrowdJustice. In appropriate cases, we may recommend exploring the possibility of using CrowdJustice, an online platform for crowdfunding legal fees to assist with the costs of legal advice.
No win, no fee agreements are available for some cases. In a case where it is appropriate to consider issuing Judicial Review proceedings, we may require you to take out a policy of insurance to protect you from the risk of adverse costs liability.
Contingency fee agreements. This means we agree to deduct our basic charges and VAT as a % of any monies recovered in the event of a successful outcome. You remain liable for the cost of any disbursements throughout the claim.
Legal expenses insurance. Often this is included in home insurance policies and it may be used to pay for legal costs.

Our community care solicitors will provide clear advice on the potential funding options available as part of the initial, free no obligation consultation.

Why should I choose Lester Aldridge for my community care case?

Proven track record of successful outcomes for community care clients.
Highly responsive, accessible and personalised client service.
We offer a range of funding options that are tailored towards the circumstances of the case.
Our holistic approach to identifying all of a client’s needs means that we deliver advice and assistance which is tailored towards maximising the use of statutory entitlements to ensure needs are met.
Access to a carefully selected pool of expert barristers, independent social workers, capacity assessors, and clinicians to help support resolving community care issues.
Supported by specialist injury lawyers who can take forward investigating a personal injury or medical negligence claim when a disability, illness or injury arises from an accident or negligent failure.

Professional Memberships

Court of Protection Practitioners Association (COPPA) Member
Committee member of COPPA South Central
Professional Deputies Forum Member

Connections & Organisations

The Community Care team works closely with the following organisations:

Community Care & SEN

Your Key Contacts

James Pantling-Skeet

Associate

Email James 023 8082 7483 View Full Profile

Laura Guntrip

Partner

Email Laura 01202 786187 View Full Profile

Testimonials

I would highly recommend LA's services with respect to health care. The service I have received has been excellent with regards to this matter. I have been very impressed with the diligence of the work undertaken and the quality of the submissions raised. A highly diligent, thorough, and consistent quality of service. Insightful and comprehensive analysis of extensive medical and care records and reports.

Rohan Paulo

In terms of strengths, I would personally like to point out that they offer a wealth of experience and we as a family are very much appreciative of the relentless support that they have provided to us so far. The team at Lester Aldridge are a breath of fresh air, they really do care about your wellbeing by offering a tailored service and also they will go over and beyond to ensure that the agreed outcome is desirable for all parties. They also always ensure that financially it is affordable and manageable for us as a family and are very keen to weigh up in an honest manner, cost-effectiveness versus direct result which is very important to all individuals.
We need more people like their team representing niche or complex injustices within the above sectors who are able to commit to the long term journey and be present every step of the way offering solid advice.

Anonymous

I approached James as we had been struggling with appropriate bathing facilities for my severely disabled son. We reached a point when my son had no access to washing facilities at all. We had been seeking support for a few years but had been unsuccessful.

Although we had support from some of the professionals involved in my sons care, the Housing association was not supportive of our family’s needs.

From the very first telephone conversation, James was both friendly and professional. James had achieved the very best possible outcome for our family, something we really didn't believe would be possible. We are now in the final stages of planning for an extension to the property, providing our son with a full wet room . And whilst we wait for the extension, we had a wash pod installed, so Olly could access facilities.

James was so supportive through this whole process and genuinely cared. James wasted no time in organising and attending meetings with the necessary professionals.

Without James's support, our Son would still be without any facilities. I would absolutely recommend James, we are incredibly grateful and really cannot thank James for working so hard to get the very best for our 9 year old son, and taking a huge amount of stress and worry from our whole family.

From all of us, thank you.

Charlotte Reid

I learned about James and his role when given a booklet at The Rainbow Centre at the beginning of 2020. I called him in panic and was incredibly stressed due to the LA threatening to take Louis' therapy centre placement away. He was wonderful from the first time we spoke, kept me calm and offered some excellent first hand advice. Since then James has worked with me through the EHCP and transport process over the past 18 months. James has been absolutely amazing in all aspects, professional, friendly, caring and lovely. James has really gone the extra mile to support Louis and myself, which we will always be eternally grateful for. James is always ridiculously apologetic if he can't get back to me within a relatively short timescale due to his workload.

L.D

The technical quality of the legal advice and the work was ‘excellent. The service we received was second to none. There was nothing that was too difficult and nothing was a problem. Our opinion was valued and most importantly, we were listened to.
[The team was] friendly, kind and very experienced. It was like having an extremely knowledgeable friend who was willing to fight for the smaller guy, aka Mason.
Through this law firm, we are able to secure a brighter, more promising future for our son. We are able to place early intervention strategies, to benefit him forever.

R. Wootten