Free personal care: what it will cover, and what it leaves out
By David Hall, founder, AirCarers Companion. Published 13 October 2026.
On 9 October the Department of Health and Social Care set out, in one place, what the government's new National Care Service is meant to look like. Personal care for older people, meaning help with things like eating, bathing and using the toilet, is to become free, based on need rather than ability to pay. Bed and board in a care home will still be means-tested. The service is due to be built up in phases in the next Parliament, and Baroness Casey's commission, due to report in summer 2027, will recommend how and when.
The same update confirmed a workforce action plan to improve care workers' pay, terms and conditions, and a commitment to appoint the first champion for unpaid carers.
What "personal care" does and does not mean
The government's own examples are eating, bathing and using the toilet. A lot of what keeps an older person well at home is not on that list. In Scotland, shopping and laundry are not part of free personal care. Company, conversation, a walk, a trip to the shops or a lift to the GP are likely to sit outside the new offer, though this is not yet confirmed.
The gap between coping and qualifying
Many older people are not in crisis but the days are long and quiet. Under the plans announced so far, many of them still will not qualify, because they do not need help with personal care. The help they need is lighter, earlier and more ordinary: someone to talk to, someone to walk with, someone to notice.
What you can do now
- Ask Hertfordshire County Council for a free needs assessment, whatever the savings.
- Ask for a carer's assessment for yourself.
- Check Attendance Allowance, which is not means-tested.
- Plan ahead for a hospital stay and ask about short-term reablement.
- Protect company and routine as the clocks go back on 25 October.
- Do not make big decisions on a promise.
- Follow the Casey Commission, due to report in summer 2027.
Where we fit
AirCarers Companion is help before care. Our companions are self-employed, enhanced DBS checked and local, and offer company, conversation, outings and lifts to appointments. We are not CQC registered and we do not provide personal or clinical care. We cover Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth, and visits start from £25 an hour. See hospital discharge support.
This article is general information, not legal, financial or medical advice.