Care Act 2014

Cases where hospital patient is likely to have care and support needs after discharge

1 (1) Where the NHS body responsible for a hospital patient considers that it is not likely to be safe to discharge the patient unless arrangements for meeting the patient’s needs for care and support are in place, the body must give notice to—

(a) the local authority in whose area the patient is ordinarily resident, or

(b) if it appears to the body that the patient is of no settled residence, the local authority in whose area the hospital is situated.

(2) A notice under sub-paragraph (1) is referred to in this Schedule as an “assessment notice”; and the local authority to which an assessment notice is given is referred to in this Schedule as “the relevant authority”.

(3) An assessment notice—

(a) must describe itself as such, and

(b) may not be given more than seven days before the day on which the patient is expected to be admitted to hospital.

(4) Before giving an assessment notice, the NHS body responsible for the patient must consult—

(a) the patient, and

(b) where it is feasible to do so, any carer that the patient has.

(5) An assessment notice remains in force until—

(a) the patient is discharged (whether by the NHS body responsible for the patient or by the patient himself or herself),

(b) the patient dies, or

(c) the NHS body responsible for the patient withdraws the notice by giving a notice (a “withdrawal notice”) to the relevant authority.

(6) A reference in this paragraph to a hospital patient includes a reference to a person who it is reasonable to expect is about to become one.