Living away from home [Legislation (35)]
This section explains the rules for people who live in hospitals or care homes.
You can only receive DLA for the first 28 days (84 days if you are aged under 16) after you are admitted to an NHS hospital or similar institution. In the case of the care component, you can only receive DLA for the first 28 days you spend in a care home or independent hospital that is provided with funding from a local authority or sometimes another government department. The 28 days can be continuous or an aggregate (see ‘Respite care’ below). This includes both local authority homes and private care homes and homes run by voluntary organisations where all or part of the funding is provided by a local authority.
Respite care
Respite care is where you move into an NHS hospital or a care home or independent hospital to give the person who looks after you a rest for a few days or weeks. You will continue to get the DLA mobility component if you are admitted to a care home. The care component, and the mobility component if you are admitted to an NHS hospital or similar institution, will continue for the first 28 days of respite care.
These 28 days can be for a continuous period of respite care or for shorter periods which add up to 28 days (the days when you go into and come out of respite care do not count for this purpose). These rules also apply when you move in and out of hospital or a care home because of a fluctuating condition.
Once these 28 days have been used up, you must be out of hospital or a care home for at least 29 days before you can receive payments during another 28 days of respite care. You must tell the Disability Contact and Processing Unit straight away what the arrangements will be each time you go into respite care.
Payments for intervening periods at home are not affected, even if the 28-day period has been used up in respite care.
- If you are in any doubt contact the Disability Contact and Processing Unit
Days away from hospital or a care home
If your DLA is not normally payable because you are in hospital, you can get payments on a daily basis for any periods you spend away, for example weekends at home, holidays and visits to relatives. Similarly, you can get the care component, in addition to normal payments of the mobility component, for days you spend away from a care home.
You should tell the Disability Contact and Processing Unit about such periods beforehand so that money you are due can be paid promptly. Regular payments may be arranged if you are going to make trips home on a regular basis.
Private patients
If you, another person or a voluntary organisation pay the full cost of your accommodation while you are in hospital as a private patient, or while you are living in a care home or independent hospital, payment of your DLA can continue. If the local authority begins to help you with the cost of this accommodation, you should tell the Disability Contact and Processing Unit immediately, because payment of DLA will stop after the first 28 days of this funding. NHS funded nursing care in care homes is not treated as part of the cost of the accommodation. Payment for personal care by a local authority in Scotland is treated as part of the cost.
Voluntary hospices
If you are in a voluntary hospice, you will usually be able to get the highest rate of the DLA care component straight away.
If you are already getting DLA when you go into a voluntary hospice, you can usually keep it while you are there.