People want change to care home funding - survey

Introducing a cap on how much people pay for nursing home care has the backing of a "significant majority" of those who took part in a consultation on future provision.

People were asked for their views on two proposed models for how nursing, residential and home care should be funded on the Isle of Man.

On the 1,227 people who took part, all but 5% supported moving away from the current model of funding.

The government said it wanted to fund care services in "a more sustainable and fair manner", and provide more financial support for receiving care in one's own home.

Responses were split on which new model people supported, with 48% in favour of of a Free Personal Care model, similar to that used in Scotland, that was "an NHS-style model, where personal care is provided at no charge, regardless of someone's income or assets".

Some 45% opted for the Mixed Model, comparable to the system in Jersey, where people with more assets above a certain threshold would have to pay for their own care up to certain amount, or "cap".

In both models, people would still have to pay for their own accommodation and living costs, with "alternative means tested support available to those who cannot afford to pay for those costs".

Despite 78% of respondents agreeing that there should be a cap, they "felt that a fixed amount was not acceptable or fair", with a percentage or sliding scale preferred.

As a result of the feedback, the Health and Care Transformation Programme (HCTP) intends to test a sliding scale of thresholds that are a percentage of a person's overall income or assets, instead of standard set amounts.

Once completed, work on this cost model is set to be shared with Treasury.

Following this, the affordability of implementing a new model of funding will be assessed and presented to Tynwald in 2025.

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