Editorial guides

Guides for families who need clearer choices, costs and next steps

Practical articles, checklists and explanations built around Italian care homes, urgent placement, waiting lists and home-care decisions.

Featured guide

Care guide9 min

"Someone is taking her money": spotting and stopping financial abuse

In most cases it is not a stranger on the phone — it is someone close. The signs, the mistake to avoid when you raise it with her, and the steps that actually stop the money leaving.

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28 articles

All Costs & funding Local-authority & NHS funding Choosing a care home Levels of care Urgent placement Home care

Local-authority & NHS funding11 min

The care home fees are no longer affordable: what actually happens and what to do first

The money is running out and the fees are still due. The instinct is to say nothing and hope — and that is exactly what turns a solvable problem into a notice to leave. There is a defined route, it starts with a financial assessment, and the threshold that triggers council help is one many families cross without noticing. Here is the order to do things in, and the one payment you may never have owed.

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Local-authority & NHS funding9 min

Care home admission paperwork: the full checklist and how to avoid a delayed funding application (2026)

The practical guide to care home paperwork in the UK: which documents you need, how the local-authority financial assessment works, NHS Continuing Healthcare, the timeline, and the mistakes that delay or reduce your funding.

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Local-authority & NHS funding7 min

Will the council pay for a care home in Wales? The means test explained

Wales has one of the most generous capital limits in the UK. How the single-threshold means test works, whether the house counts, NHS Continuing Healthcare, and what to do when it is urgent and the assessment is not done — explained plainly, with the figures to confirm with your council.

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Local-authority & NHS funding7 min

Will the Trust pay for a care home in Northern Ireland? The means test explained

In Northern Ireland care is arranged by the HSC Trust, not a council. How the means test works, whether the house counts, fully funded care through the HSC, and what to do when it is urgent and the assessment is not done — explained plainly, with the figures to confirm with your Trust.

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Local-authority & NHS funding7 min

Will the council pay for a care home in England? The means test explained

Whether the council pays for a care home in England depends on a means test: the capital thresholds, whether the house counts, NHS Continuing Healthcare, and what to do when it is urgent and the assessment is not done — explained plainly, with the current figures to confirm with your council.

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Local-authority & NHS funding7 min

Will the council pay for a care home in Scotland? Free personal care and the means test

Scotland is different: personal and nursing care is free, but the accommodation cost is still means-tested. What free personal care covers, how the capital test works on the rest, whether the house counts, and what to do when it is urgent — explained plainly.

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Local-authority & NHS funding9 min

Section 117 Aftercare: Free Care Funding After a Mental Health Act Detention

If a relative was detained for treatment under certain sections of the Mental Health Act, they may be entitled to Section 117 aftercare — care that is free, with no means test, and can include care home fees. It is widely missed. Here’s how it works.

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Local-authority & NHS funding9 min

The CHC Fast Track Pathway: Getting NHS Funding Quickly for End-of-Life Care

When someone is approaching the end of life, there is a faster route to full NHS funding for their care — the Continuing Healthcare Fast Track Pathway. It bypasses the long assessment and can be arranged within days. Here’s how it works and how to ask for it.

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Local-authority & NHS funding10 min

Why Self-Funders Pay More Than Council-Funded Residents — and What You Can Do About It

In the same care home, a self-funding resident often pays hundreds of pounds a week more than the council pays for the person in the next room. This cross-subsidy is one of the least-understood costs in social care. Here’s why it happens and how to push back.

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