Child Disability Payment decision making guide

Definition of care home, hospital, hospice and residential educational establishment


A care home is defined ((CDP regs, reg. 2), (Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, Schedule 12, para. 2)) as a service which provides accommodation together with any of the following:

  • nursing care
  • personal care;
  • personal support.

The service should be provided to the individual because of their vulnerability and needs. This definition of care home does not include hospitals or hospices.

Entitlement to payment of CDP care and mobility components is unaffected by admission to a hospital or a hospice (CDP regs, reg. 21).

It might not always be clear if the place where the individual is living is a care home. The key to this definition is if the accommodation is linked to the care they receive.

Situations such as shared housing are similar but are not defined as care homes. The individual may have a tenancy paid for separately to the care or services they receive.

A residential educational establishment is defined as a care home which provides education or training. This does not include establishments where the costs of any qualifying services are wholly or partly covered out of public or local funds (CDP regs, reg. 2).

Qualifying services in this chapter means accommodation, board and personal care (CDP regs, reg. 2).

A hospital is an institution or establishment for the care of sick or wounded, or of those who require medical treatment. Any reference to hospital in this chapter refers to similar institutions such as:

  • rehabilitation centres
  • addiction clinics

It can also include hospices.

A hospice is a palliative care institution whose main function is to provide palliative care for people suffering from a progressive disease in the final stages (CDP regs, reg. 2).

Entitlement to payment of CDP care and mobility components is unaffected by admission to a hospital or a hospice (CDP regs, reg. 21).

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