Appeals against Charges for Care

The Highland Council Social Work Service regularly publishes information about the services that it makes a charge for and the rates of those charges. Information leaflets can be accessed through the Paying for Services Page.

Many of the people who use our services do not pay a charge for the services they receive. This is because they are financially assessed as not having to pay anything. These financial assessments take into account factors such as their income. Some outgoings are taken into account too.

Where a charge is payable, this will often be determined by the outcome of the financial assessment. Some service users choose not to have a financial assessment and opt to pay the full service charge.

Occasionally, people believe that they should not have been asked to pay a charge or believe that they are being asked to pay too much. For this reason, appeals can be heard by the Highland Care Charge Review Group (HCCRG). This is a group of managers from the Highland Council and NHS Highland representing community care, finance and legal services. People who wish to appeal against a charge should discuss this in the first instance with the person who is managing their care. This might be their social worker or community psychiatric nurse, for example.

There are specific criteria for waiving charges and these are set out in HCCRG Guidance. It is normally the care manager who completes the application form detailing the reasons why the service user /carer believes that charges should be waived. This application is commented on by the Area Manager (Community Care) before it is considered by members of the HCCRG. The Group will also consider up to date information about the person’s needs, their package of care and their financial situation. The service and/or their carer are invited to attend the appeal hearing, if they wish and will be offered any help that is necessary to do this. The Group sometimes talks to the service user/carer over a television or telephone link to save them travelling to Inverness.

In some cases, charges are automatically waived. These include situations where:

• the person is receiving services under a statutory order legislated for under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003 or the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007; or
• the person is receiving criminal justice social work services; or
• the person is over 65 and receiving nursing care and personal care (specific rates apply); or
• the person is confirmed by a medical practitioner to be terminally ill.