Contracts and Statements of Terms and Conditions in Care Homes (Wales) Policy

Policy Statement

This document sets out the home’s policy on how it develops its contractual relationships with the people who come to live in the home. {{org_field_name}} recognises that it is legally required to provide every resident with a written statement that describes in detail the terms and conditions of their residence. This spells out what it provides for its residents for the fees charged.

The policy of the home is to make its contracts with residents as fair, transparent, detailed and informative as possible so that everyone involved knows their contractual position and obligations.

The policy describes the accommodation, services and facilities it expects to provide its residents and its expectations of them in contractual matters. These include:

the period of notice required for leaving the home
specifying under what circumstances there could be a breach of contract
what this could entail
the arrangements to be made in the event of a resident’s death.

In setting out its contract and statements of terms and conditions, the home will comply with Regulation 20: Service Agreement of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017 and accompanying statutory guidance and any requirements made by local authorities (LAs) under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and the relevant consumer protection regulations that are being implemented through the Consumer Rights Act 2015; particularly those sections that address unfair contracts. The policy is also written to be consistent with Competition and Markets Authority advice (2018).

This policy applies to all residents, but it recognises that there are some differences in the contractual relationship formed between residents (where applicable) who:

pay their own fees and charges
have part or all their fees and charges paid by a third party other than the LA
have part or all their fees and charges paid by the LA
have part or all their fees and charges paid under NHS continuing health and nursing care arrangements.

In the cases of residents whose care and support is arranged and funded by their LA, the home will comply with the contractual agreements made with the LAs involved and in certain cases (as in (d) above) with the relevant health authority.

However, every resident will be issued with their own individual statements of terms and conditions that describe the home’s responsibilities towards them. The home also recognises that under the “Active Offer” initiative, which is linked to the implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, the contract or statement of terms and conditions should be available in English and Welsh as is other information about {{org_field_name}}.

Procedures

Once a resident has decided to come to the home to live, the home’s management draws up a contract/statement of terms and conditions which it issues to the resident. The prospective resident will sign the contract to indicate their consent to it, though a legal representative such as a power of attorney might sign on their behalf if the person has been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to give their consent. The home is also signatory to the agreement. The resident/representative will receive a copy of the signed contract.

Prospective residents will be informed of their rights under consumer protection laws to cancel the agreement within 14 days of signing it without incurring any financial loss other than the costs of any care that they might have received in that time or that which has been stated in the contract (effectively one month’s advance payment — see below).

The contract/statement will be referred to in the event of any problems arising and will be subject to periodic review. It might be necessary to revise or even terminate individual contracts if there are any significant changes to the person’s situation that require their terms and conditions to be accordingly revised, eg if their funding status changes or their needs change, which disables the home from meeting fully their care and support needs, despite its attempts to make reasonable adjustments to the changing needs.

Contract Contents

The resident’s contract/statement of terms and conditions includes the following areas.

The date of the agreement.
The date the service starts/admission to the home.
The name of the provider.
How and when the service will be provided.
All agreed services to be provided.
Any service that might be needed, but which for whatever reason, we cannot provide (but might procure by other means).

Accommodation, facilities and services

The home includes in its basic fee the following (list everything that applies).

Examples (to be adjusted by the provider) include:

a single/double room with/without en-suite facilities (state which)
electrical sockets for appliances (subject to health and safety requirements)
suitable carpeting/floor covering
a single/double bed
bed linen which is changed weekly/twice weekly (state how often) consisting of sheets, pillows and pillow cases/duvet/blankets/eiderdown (state which is applicable and how far personal preferences can be taken into account)
curtains/blinds
room and bedside lighting — bulbs to be changed by the home
lockable cabinet for medication, money and valuables/drawers/wardrobe/mirror
table and comfortable chair/extra chairs will be made available for visitors
keys to room/lockable cabinet/drawers/wardrobe.

Care and services included in basic fees. (This will be common to most homes but each home will need to make up its own list.)

Examples include:

room and accommodation
use of communal lounges and facilities
main meals, supper and available snacks
drinks and refreshments provided by the home for any resident
laundry service provided by the home
care and support for daily living provided by staff
access to and use of home’s aids and appliances including hoists, wheelchairs, walking aids
all property taxes levied on the home such as council tax, water rates, heating and lighting.

Additional Services Not Included in the Basic Fee

Residents who wish to purchase or obtain any of the following will need to pay separately for them from their own resources. They might procure these privately or ask the home to obtain them and to invoice them separately. (Each home will make up its own list.)

Examples include:

newspapers and magazines
hairdressing
purchase of new clothes, dry cleaning and toiletries
visitors’ meals and overnight accommodation
outings, cinema and theatre trips, holidays
non-NHS health services including any aids and appliances a resident decides to purchase privately
social and travel costs for private trips
television licence for television in own room
private telephone costs.

Payment of Fees

(Each home will set out its own charging policy, including where it requires a refundable deposit or reservation fee. Any prepayment must comply with consumer law as being “fair” and must not be used to secure additional income. It is important to be specific over all aspects of the home’s charging policy.)

Examples.

Once a person decides to move into the home, they (or their named representative/funder) will be expected to pay one month’s charges in advance to begin on the date of their admission to the home. This one month’s payment is non-refundable in the event of the resident deciding to withdraw from the contract at the end of or before the end of the first month; unless the room can be immediately filled, in which case a refund of a portion of the advance fee may be negotiated.
Thereafter, they will be invoiced so as to provide monthly payments in advance on a set date preferably by direct debit, bank transfer or standing order.
The home will invoice separately also monthly for any additional services it provides that are not included in the basic fee.
Where a person gives notice of leaving (four weeks’ notice is the usual requirement) the person will be charged to the actual date of departure if the notice period begins during an invoice period.
If a resident dies within two weeks of the last payment, the home deems the time from the person’s death to the date of the next invoice due as if the resident was still in occupation of the room.
No refund is given but payments will cease from that point onwards. If the person dies within two weeks of the next invoice due, the home may seek to charge for an additional week or two weeks after the next invoice date depending when the person died.
These arrangements allow time for the room to be cleared, cleaned and redecorated if needed. The home undertakes not to have the room reoccupied while it is still in receipt of payment from the previous occupant, or if it does it will refund the charges made to the previous occupant (or estate), which have become the responsibility of the new resident.
Where a person is away from the home temporarily in hospital or on holiday, the home reduces its charges by (eg 20%) to take into account the reduced costs of their absence.

Revision of Fees

Fees are reviewed and revised annually. New charges usually apply from 1 April of each year (or date to be specified by the provider). Fee revisions are based on (state how the changes are recalculated so that they are clear to the person receiving care).

Fees will only be changed at other than the agreed times with a full explanation, consultation with the people receiving care and their representatives and 28 days’ notice.

Examples.

Fees are worked out in terms of costs of accommodation, including overheads, cost of care provision and resources needed, particularly staff costs and other charges on the home including insurance.
They are calculated to provide a daily rate, which is converted into an annual charge. This is then divided by 12 to provide a standard monthly charge, which is the one invoiced.
Fee changes are worked out in line with these criteria, taking into account the changes in the costs involved. The home will give a full explanation of how changes in the costs have been calculated, including the methods or reference to external benchmarks if used (eg Consumer Prices Index).

Insurance

The home is properly insured [provide policy details] and advises each resident on any additional insurance that might be needed to cover personal property brought into the home.

Periods of Notice and Termination

The home normally requires a period of four weeks’ notice for any resident who wishes to leave the home. If a resident does not return following an agreed temporary period of absence, the home might seek to terminate that person’s contract, taking into account the reasons for their prolonged absence and their future wellbeing. It will seek a termination only after a full consultation with the individual concerned and/or their lawful representatives.

Where it is considered that there has been a breach of contract on the part of the resident, the home might seek to issue the person with four weeks’ notice to vacate the room and to leave the home. This will usually be based on the grounds that the home can no longer meet a person’s care and support needs and the person will not benefit further from the services which the home provides. The home will make every effort to ensure that the person receives the care and support that they need and will co-operate fully in the leaving and transfer arrangements.

Exceptionally the home might need to give notice to someone because their behaviour and actions are not in line with their obligations and responsibilities to which they have agreed, and constitute a breach of contract.

If there is evidence of a breach of contract, the home will first discuss the matter with the person and their lawful representatives to see if a constructive solution might be found. If the breach continues, the home will issue a warning letter to indicate that a further breach could result in the issuing of notice to leave with notice then being given when all further efforts to resolve the issue have failed.

Respective Rights and Responsibilities

The home’s aim is always to make the resident as comfortable as possible.
The home respects the right of the resident to treat the room as their own personal space. At the same time, it expects each resident to respect the need for the home to keep the appearance of the room to a good material standard and acceptable standards of tidiness and cleanliness.
The home will enable any resident who wishes to do so to bring in any item of furniture to replace that provided by the home (providing that it fits in reasonably well and is in good order) and any other personal possessions valued by the individual person. The home will keep an inventory of any such items.
The home undertakes to keep the room clean and tidy by checking daily and carrying out any cleaning and tidying needed, working to the resident’s wishes as far as possible in how and when this work should be carried out.
The home will need to have regular safety checks carried out on any electrical appliances used by the resident.
The home does not accept responsibility for the security of items, including money, kept in the person’s own room. The home asks each resident not to keep valuable items or any large amounts of money in their rooms (locked away or not), but to deposit these for safekeeping with the manager.
Residents are allowed/not allowed to bring in/keep pets in their rooms (in accordance with the home’s policy on pets).
The home adopts a non-smoking policy anywhere in the home and residents are expected to abide by this. (Alternatively, specify what the home’s policy on smoking is.)
There will be occasions when the home will need to enter a resident’s room for reasons of health and safety checks or the carrying out of essential maintenance and repairs. The home will always seek to notify or check with the resident first when it needs to gain entry in this way.
Where a resident (or someone acting on their behalf) has considered that the home has failed to fulfil its contractual obligations it should use the complaints procedure to have the issues addressed.
Where the home considers that the resident has breached his or her contractual obligations, it undertakes to investigate the matters fairly and will only seek to ask the person to leave as a last resort.
There are several documents and policies that have implications for the contractual relationship, which might be referred to where any such matters need to be investigated. These include the statement of purpose, information for people receiving care, policies on needs assessments and care plans, healthcare and medication, and policies that describe limits and boundaries about staff and residents’ behaviour and conduct.

Training

New staff are made aware during their induction training of the service’s contractual relationships and duty of care.

Staff who are responsible for producing contracts or for dealing with prospective or new people receiving care have specific training to help them formulate each individual contract/agreement.

All staff training is regularly reviewed to make sure that it is up to date with any changes in legislation or good practice relating to contracts with people receiving care.

Reference

UK Care Home Providers for Older People — Advice on Consumer Law (2018), Competition and Markets Authority, available on the CMA website.

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}

WCH54. Contracts and Statements of Terms and Conditions in Care Homes