If someone you love is coming home from hospital, you may have heard the phrase “six weeks of free care”. It’s a real thing, but it’s often misunderstood. Families sometimes expect a full six weeks of help as standard, then find support ends after a fortnight with little warning.
This guide explains what 6 weeks free care after hospital actually is, who qualifies, what’s included and what happens when it ends. If you’re in Sandwell, Dudley or Wolverhampton, it also covers how to plan the next step, so there’s no gap in support when the free period finishes.
Key Takeaways
- The “six weeks of free care” is short-term recovery support, called intermediate care. It includes reablement.
- It’s free for up to six weeks in England, and it isn’t means-tested. Your savings and income don’t affect it.
- You get it if you’re assessed as needing it. Six weeks is the most you’d usually receive, not a set amount.
- When it ends, any ongoing care is either arranged through the council after an assessment, or arranged privately.
- It’s worth planning what comes next while the free care is still running.
What is 6 weeks free care after hospital?
The “six weeks of free care” is the everyday name for short-term support that helps someone recover after a hospital stay, a fall or an illness. The official name is intermediate care, and the most common type at home is reablement.
Government guidance under the Care Act says that when councils provide intermediate care or reablement, it must be free of charge for up to six weeks. That applies to every adult who needs it, whether or not they go on to qualify for ongoing care. The same guidance says small aids and minor adaptations, such as a grab rail, must also be free.
If you’d like to understand the day-to-day side, our guide explains what reablement is and what a reablement team does.
What is intermediate care?
Intermediate care is the umbrella term for short-term care that bridges the gap between hospital and home. The government guidance describes four types:
- Crisis response. Rapid short-term care, usually for up to 48 hours, to help someone avoid going into hospital.
- Home-based intermediate care. Support at home from a team led mainly by health professionals, such as nurses and therapists.
- Bed-based intermediate care. A short stay away from home, for example in a community hospital, before going home.
- Reablement. Support at home, mainly from care and support staff, to help someone relearn everyday tasks.
Most people receive intermediate care at home. The aim is the same whichever type is offered: to help someone recover and get back to doing as much as they can for themselves.
What does discharge to assess mean?
When a hospital discharge is being planned, you may hear staff talk about “discharge to assess” or “home first”. It means people go home, or to a short-term setting, as soon as they’re well enough, and their longer-term needs are assessed once they’ve had time to recover.
It makes sense. Someone who has just come out of hospital is rarely at their best, and judging what help they’ll need long term on day one can underestimate what they’re capable of. Under discharge to assess, the free short-term support comes first and the bigger decisions come later.
For families, the key point is that the assessment of long-term needs usually happens towards the end of the free period. That’s why it pays to think ahead, rather than waiting to be told what happens next.
Who qualifies for 6 weeks free care after hospital?
There’s no age limit or savings test. Someone usually qualifies if:
- They’re an adult who has lost some independence through illness, injury, an operation or a fall.
- They’re expected to get better, at least in part, with the right short-term support.
- They’ve been assessed by the hospital team or the council as needing that support.
You don’t have to have been in hospital. Intermediate care can also be arranged after a fall or an illness at home, through the GP surgery or the council’s adult social care team.
Two things are worth knowing. First, six weeks is the most you’d usually receive, not a guaranteed amount. Support ends when the goals are met or progress levels off, which is often after one or two weeks. Second, it can sometimes run longer. Councils can charge after six weeks, but the guidance encourages them to keep it free where it’s clearly helping.
What’s included, and what usually isn’t
Free care after a hospital stay is focused on recovery. It usually includes:
- Help with personal care, such as washing and dressing, while someone relearns how to manage.
- Practising everyday tasks, like making a drink, preparing a meal or moving around the house.
- Therapy input, from occupational therapists or physiotherapists, where needed.
- Equipment and minor adaptations, such as a walking frame, a perching stool or a grab rail.
Because the focus is on recovery goals, it usually won’t cover longer visits, companionship, housework or shopping. Visits are often short and timed around the tasks being practised. If your loved one needs more than that, you can add private care alongside it.
| During the free period vs after it ends | |
| Who pays | During: the council or NHS, free for up to six weeks. After: the council (after a financial assessment), you, or a mix |
| What it aims for | During: recovery and independence. After: support with whatever is still difficult |
| How long | During: usually up to six weeks. After: for as long as it’s needed |
| Who arranges it | During: the hospital, GP or council. After: the council after an assessment, or you directly |
What happens when the six weeks end?
Before the free care finishes, the team should talk with you about what happens next. For most families, it goes one of three ways:
- No further help needed. Your loved one is managing well on their own.
- Ongoing care through the council. If needs remain, the council carries out a care needs assessment, then a financial assessment to work out what it will pay towards. If the council is paying towards care, you can usually ask for that money as a direct payment and choose your own home care agency.
- Privately arranged care. You arrange and pay for home care directly, either because the council won’t fund it or because you want more support or more choice. It also means your family decides when visits happen, how long they last and what they include.
In England, the council generally helps with care costs if someone has savings of less than £23,250. A financial assessment looks at income and savings to work out what they’d need to contribute. For care at home, the value of their home isn’t counted.
If your loved one has more than £23,250 in savings, they’ll usually pay the full cost of their care at home. They can still ask the council to arrange it, but the council may charge a fee for doing so, and it will choose the agency and agree the visit times. Arranging care yourself keeps those decisions with your family.
Some people with complex, long-term health needs may qualify for NHS continuing healthcare, which is assessed separately. Ask the hospital or community team whether it’s been considered.
Council-arranged care or arranging it yourself: who stays in control?
However the care is paid for, the biggest difference families notice is control. When the council arranges care, it agrees a package around your loved one’s assessed needs, and the agency fits the visits into its own rota. That suits many people, but it can mean short visits at times you didn’t choose.
When you arrange care yourself, privately or with a direct payment, you decide when the visits happen, how long they last and what they include. If Mum has always had her breakfast at nine, that’s when her carer comes. If she’d enjoy a walk to the shops or simply some company, that can be part of the visit too. You can also ask for a small team of familiar faces, and change agency if it isn’t working out.
To find an agency, ask friends and neighbours who they’ve used, read reviews from other families, and speak to two or three providers before you decide. A good agency will be happy to visit your loved one first and talk it through.
Questions to ask before the free care ends
A little planning makes the handover much calmer. Around the halfway point, it’s worth asking:
- When is the free support due to end, and who will tell us?
- Has a care needs assessment been arranged? If not, how do we ask for one?
- What does the team think will still be difficult once support stops?
- Is any equipment ours to keep, and who do we call if something breaks?
- Who do we contact if things get worse after the support ends?
- If the council will be paying, can we have it as a direct payment so we can choose our own agency?
How Caring with Dignity can help when free care ends
Many of the families we support come to us as the free period is ending, or when it’s not quite enough. Our post-hospital and reablement care picks up where short-term support leaves off, with the same focus on helping your loved one do as much as they can for themselves.
We can often start with just a few days’ notice, and we can begin while the free care is still running, so there’s no gap at the end. Our carers follow any exercise plans the occupational therapist or physiotherapist has left, and we keep the professionals involved updated on how things are going. You stay in control of when visits happen and what they include, and with lasting power of attorney you can see visit times and read our carers’ notes through the Tag Care app.
Your loved one sees a small team of familiar faces, and visits are built around how they like to live, not around a clock. If you’re weighing up costs, our guide to paying for care explains the options.
Your questions about free care after hospital
Is 6 weeks free care means-tested?
No. In England, reablement must be provided free for up to six weeks, whatever someone’s income or savings. Charges only come in for care arranged after reablement ends, which may involve a financial assessment.
Do you get 6 weeks free care if you haven’t been in hospital?
You can. Intermediate care can be arranged after a fall or an illness at home, sometimes to help someone avoid a hospital stay. Start with the GP surgery or your council’s adult social care team.
Can free care after hospital last longer than six weeks?
Sometimes. The government guidance says reablement shouldn’t have a strict time limit. Councils can charge for support beyond six weeks, but they’re encouraged to keep it free where it’s clearly helping.
Will we have to sell Mum’s house to pay for care at home?
No. When the council works out what someone should pay towards care at home, the value of their home isn’t counted. Savings, income and other property are.
What if we’re not happy with how the discharge was handled?
Speak to the ward staff first. If that doesn’t resolve things, the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help. If your loved one is already home and the support isn’t right, you can ask the council for a review.
Can we choose our own care agency if the council is paying?
Usually, yes. Once the council has assessed your loved one’s needs and agreed what it will pay, you can ask to receive that money as a direct payment and use it to pay an agency you choose. You’ll need to keep simple records of how it’s spent, and the council will explain what’s involved.
Coming home from hospital, or is reablement coming to an end?
Whether a discharge date has just been set or support is about to stop, our team can talk you through your options and arrange a free care assessment, so you stay in control of when visits happen and what they include. No pressure, just a friendly chat.
or email manager@caringwithdignity.co.uk
