Emergency care home: what to do in the next 48 hours
UK triage tool for a same-week emergency care home admission. Three figures you need first. Then a branching wizard that names your pathway, timeline, and who pays. Designed for a phone screen at 11pm in a hospital car park. NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) means care the NHS pays for in full when the main need is health, not social.
The short answer. If a hospital says your relative is medically fit for discharge, the legal route is Discharge to Assess (D2A), and the NHS funds the first up to 6 weeks while a long-term plan is set. If the patient is rapidly deteriorating, ask the discharge nurse for an NHS CHC Fast Track Pathway Tool: legal target is a decision inside 48 hours, fully NHS-funded. If you are self-funding privately, typical UK weekly rates are £900 to £1,800 for residential and £1,300 to £2,100 for nursing or dementia nursing.
£900-£1,800
Typical weekly UK rate for self-funded emergency residential care (range covers regional and dementia variation).
£0 for 6 weeks
What the NHS pays for under Discharge to Assess or reablement, before any means test.
48 hours
Legal target for an NHS CHC Fast Track decision. Typical lead time to a same-week vacancy via direct enquiry to 3-5 homes.
What just happened?
If you only have 60 seconds, do this
- Tap the amber bar at the bottom of the screen to call NHS 111 and press option 2.
- Ask the hospital nurse on the ward: is there a Discharge to Assess plan and which pathway?
- If your relative is rapidly deteriorating, ask: can a CHC Fast Track Pathway Tool be signed today?
- Open the find a bed page and call 3 to 5 homes directly. Do not pay any deposit before reading our 12 questions.
Six situations, six pathways
Pick the one that matches the call you just had. The page is a plain-English playbook, not a brochure.
- Hospital discharge in 48-72 hours - the most common starting point.
- I cannot cope any more - the carer is the family. Care Act s.10 contingency duty.
- The primary carer has been admitted - council emergency duty under Care Act s.19.
- Dementia escalated overnight - wandering, refusal-to-eat, sundowning.
- End of life - NHS CHC Fast Track, decision target 48 hours.
- Unsafe at home - falls, hoarding, no heating, safeguarding s.42.
Sources used on this page
Every numeric claim on this site is anchored to a primary source. The chips on this page link to:
Last reviewed 2026-06-21. Clinical reviewer pending appointment (target Sep 2026); meanwhile reviewed by the editorial team.