How Are Continuing Healthcare And Social Care Different?

Continuity of care is a vital part of home care services for people returning home after a stay in hospital.

Once someone is discharged from hospital, part of the process involves identifying potential health and social care needs going forward to ensure that any support a person needs is provided to them as soon as they leave hospital.

The concept of continuity of care requires a seamless transition through different providers of care, which in this example would be between the NHS hospital someone is admitted to and the care provider who will ensure that a person’s needs are met.

There are two main approaches to this, continuing healthcare and social care, but whilst the primary goal is the same, the approaches could not be any more different.

Here are some of the primary differences between the two concepts.

The Care Provider

Whilst social care can be provided by a wide range of different providers, in a multitude of different settings, continuing healthcare is only provided by the NHS, although it can be offered outside of a hospital.

This means that whilst a person receiving care has a choice as to how that care is provided within the social care framework, that is not the case with continuing healthcare, although it will still be person-centred care.

Eligibility

Every care service and local authority has its own set of standards when it comes to people who are eligible and would benefit significantly from social care, whilst the criteria for continuing healthcare are far narrower.

Continuing healthcare is designed for adults with a complex need or set of needs, and will only provide continuing healthcare if it is determined that a person has a primary health need that would require continuing healthcare to help with.

This is typically judged using four criteria:

• The nature of the needs, their overall effects and the type of care needed to manage them.
• The intensity of these needs, their severity, and whether these needs require ongoing or sustained care in order to be met.
• The complexity of the care needs, and how much equipment or expertise is required to manage care and monitor symptoms.
• The unpredictability of care needs and how quickly care needs to be provided if they escalate.

This eligibility is determined using a two-step process, including an initial screening process, followed by a comprehensive assessment by a multidisciplinary team, who will explore potential options for continuing care and decide on the right type of care.

Healthcare Needs Vs Social Care Needs

A core difference is that continuing healthcare is focused on the long-term treatment of healthcare conditions and needs, whilst social care is focused on ensuring a person receives the support they need to enjoy a fulfilling, social, comfortable, safe and independent life.

What counts as a healthcare need and a social care need is often ambiguous, and there are many cases where care needs can overlap, such as where a social care package is effective for managing what are considered to be healthcare needs.

What can complicate this further is where packages of care are provided jointly by the NHS and the Local Authority, which indicates a mix of healthcare and social care needs.