The National Careline Blog

Coronavirus Act 2020 – Emergency legislation

24 April 2020

The Coronavirus Act 2020 came into force on 25th March 2020 and extensively changed many of the duties and responsibilities that public bodies were following in the existing legislation under the Care Act 2014.

The new Act created a range of emergency measures to help the care system manage the extra pressures caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. This new legislation states that delays with assessments will occur as staff are needed in other places or on the frontline. There will also be staff absences due to sickness and enough reserve has to be built into the system to ensure that there will be sufficient capacity in the system to cope with the demands made upon it.

These emergency measures will be in force until the Government can relax them. The public bodies will then go back to the existing legislation.

These measures are temporary and only to be used when it’s not possible for the local authorities to carry out their duties under the Care Act 2014.

There are four key changes:

  1. Local Authorities will not have to carry out detailed assessments of people’s care and support needs in compliance with pre-amendment Care Act requirements.
  2. Local Authorities will not have to carry out financial assessments in compliance with pre-amendment Care Act requirements.
  3. Local Authorities will not have to prepare or review care and support plans in line with the pre-amendment Care Act provisions.
  4. The duties on Local Authorities to meet eligible care and support needs, or the support needs of a carer, are replaced with a power to meet needs.

There is also new guidance on the discharge of patients from hospital and these are contained in the document “COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements”

There will be 4 clear pathways for discharging patients.

Pathway 0 – 50% of people simple discharge, no input from health/social care.

Pathway 1 – 45% of people: support to recover at home; able to return home with support from health and/or social care.

Pathway 2 – 4% of people; rehabilitation in a bedded setting

Pathway 3 – 1% of people; there has been a life changing event. Home is not an option at point of discharge from acute hospital.

Patients will not be able to stay in an acute bed when it is no longer necessary. They will be discharged so that their acute bed can be used immediately by someone else who is acutely unwell.

For most patients, any ongoing care or assessments (if needed) will take place in their own home. For those whose care needs are too great for their return home, a suitable rehabilitation bed or care home will be found by a care coordinator.

This new bed may not be a first choice for some, but patients cannot stay in acute beds and will have to move to the available bed. For some this will just be more rehabilitation until they are well enough to return home. But for others it will be a move into long term care and the care coordinators will then follow up to arrange a transfer to a patient’s first choice of care home when it becomes available.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all support for patients will be paid for by the NHS, to ensure they move on from their acute hospital stay as quickly as possible.

We have attached a copy of the Coronavirus Bill – Summary of Impacts, and a copy of Guidance “COVID – 19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements”. These documents contain the legislation and should be considered together.

Impact Assessment

Hospital Discharge Service Requirements