Post-hospitalisation care at home product launched

  • Collinson Group has launched Care and Support at Home, a unique product that provides comprehensive at-home assistance services for recovering patients following hospitalisation
  • In building the product, Collinson Group has created the UK and Ireland’s first network of high quality, Care Quality Commission and HCCI registered domiciliary care providers
  • The firm is working with financial services providers including insurers, banks, brokers and providers of employee benefits in fulfilling the growing market demand for post-hospital care
  • More than 2.5 million Britons have no one to provide care or support were they to be discharged from hospital following an overnight stay

Collinson Group has launched Care and Support at Home, a unique product in the UK insurance market that seeks to help financial services companies provide comprehensive at-home assistance services for millions of Britons who struggle to receive adequate care after a period of hospitalisation. The launch comes at a time when public sector infrastructure is increasingly struggling to provide care and assistance services, particularly with regards to elderly members of society, with more and more people spending larger amounts of their recovery at home.

Research commissioned by Collinson Group reveals that significant numbers of people in the UK are in need of a dedicated at-home assistance service: over 2.5 million adults would have no one to help or support at home following hospital discharge for tasks such as shopping, bathing and cleaning. The research also highlights the mistaken belief that the NHS or local authority would automatically provide an appropriate carer or in-home support. Over 3.6 million adults say they would rely on the NHS and local authority support staff to look after them if they became temporarily incapacitated following an overnight stay in hospital.

In reality, NHS and local authority support is not always available, especially since cost pressures continue to mount. Accessing these services can also be bureaucratic and time consuming, leaving those patients in need having to pay directly for the services themselves.

In building the unique proposition Care and Support at Home, Collinson Group has created the UK and Ireland’s first network of high quality, Care Quality Commission and Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI) registered domiciliary care providers. The policy is triggered when a client’s customer undergoes hospital treatment and additional care for cancer patients can also be covered. The service involves a professional assessment of each individual to ascertain their particular needs, following which customers can receive up to a pre-defined number of hours of care and assistance for an agreed period of time from the date of hospital discharge.

Tailored care plans can range from personal care to lighter-touch assistance with domestic duties such as help with cleaning, general tidying and light household duties, changing bed linen, purchasing and preparation of meals, and feeding assistance.

Lawrence Watts, Head of Home & Motor, Insurance & Assistance, Collinson Group, said: “The evolving healthcare landscape and lack of a personal support network for many, present a market opportunity for financial services companies to help fill the gap by providing dedicated at home assistance services that address people’s concerns as well as being commercially viable.

“With Care and Support at Home, we have used a combination of experts recruited from the market and our network set-up management expertise to create an unparalleled nationwide capability. Our network is credentialed and managed, with relevant certificates and licenses held on our bespoke supplier management database. As a core principle, Collinson Group will not allow our network members to subcontract, meaning we keep direct control of service delivery and the ongoing quality is managed following our general network management processes – including measures of service delivery quality and periodic site visits.”

The research commissioned by Collinson Group found that the majority of Britons would rely on family members during their recuperation were they to be discharged from hospital. However, changing living trends means that a traditional support network is not always available. Of those Britons that would not seek support from family members, 26% didn’t have a relationship where they felt they would be able to ask for support, while 11% said they didn’t have any family available to provide assistance.  A further 14% said their family members lived too far away to provide help, while one in ten (10%) said their family would be too busy with their own lives to provide support. 

Lawrence Watts concluded: “We live in an increasingly fragmented society with traditional support networks of family and friends not available due to geographic location and pressures such as a demanding working culture. Increasingly people will be looking for financial services providers to develop insured products that offer the peace of mind of guaranteed at home assistance following hospitalisation should support be necessary. We are actively looking to work with financial services partners including insurers, brokers and banks as well as corporates in spearheading the development of this new, exciting market.”

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