The words to use
- Adult social care
- Personal and practical help with daily living, such as washing, dressing and eating. In England it is arranged by councils and means-tested.
- Upper capital limit
- The savings threshold in England, £23,250, above which you pay the full cost of your own care.
- Criteria to reside
- The test of whether a patient still needs an acute hospital bed. In September 2026 about 13,600 patients a day stayed without meeting it.
- National Care Service
- The free personal care service for older people promised by the Prime Minister on 29 September 2026, to be set up in the next Parliament.
- Casey commission
- Baroness Louise Casey's independent commission on adult social care, set up in January 2025. Its report is due in summer 2027.
- Discharge to assess
- Discharging a patient once they are medically ready, with support in place, and assessing their longer-term care needs at home or in the community rather than in a hospital bed.
- Deconditioning
- The loss of strength, mobility and independence that older patients suffer when they stay in bed, even for a few days. It is why a delayed discharge is never neutral.
