NHS and local authority care and support
Currently, patients with social care needs go through a number of stages before they are discharged from hospital. For some patients, one of these stages is an NHS Continuing Healthcare Assessment; a process that can take a number of weeks. The Act allows the procedure for discharge from an acute hospital setting for those with a social care need to be simplified.
	There are also duties on Local Authorities in Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 to assess and meet needs for care and support. The Act replaces these duties with a power to meet needs for care and support, underpinned by a duty to meet those needs where not to do so would be a breach of an individual’s human rights, and a power to meet needs in other cases.
	The Act also allows that, if a Local Authority has not charged an individual for their care during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are able to do so retrospectively after the conclusion of this period subject to financial assessment.
	The immediate operationalisation of these provisions allows Local Authorities to amend current practices if necessary, and is intended to reduce operational burden so that Local Authorities can prioritise the services they offer in order to ensure the most urgent and serious care needs are met.
	In order to support Local Authorities in operating under the new powers, including making prioritisation decisions in a consistent, and ethical manner, the Government has published an ethical framework and supplements this with operational guidance. The Act enables the Secretary of State to direct Local Authorities to comply with this guidance.