help! momgoing into home short term. help with fees'?

gentlepurr · 28 June 2006 at 9:36AM

my dad, who is 81 is full time carer for my mum. he has just phoned me this morning to say he has slipped a disc, and will have to put mom (severely disabled following a stroke) into a home for a few weeks. he is adament that social services wont help with fees, and yes, they do have some savings, in joint names.

my question is, would there be any financial help available anywhere, if so where do i access it?

thanks

xx

elona · 28 June 2006 at 10:07AM

Contact social services or your parents doctors surgery as a start.

My dad was convinced that he would not get any help when he got out of hospital and would have to pay for everything himself - but the opposite was the case.

matto · 28 June 2006 at 10:40AM

Contact social services. They'll probably have an elderly persons team. They should be able to come out and do an emergency assessment if they need to and find an available place in a home.

Costs are down to the vagaries of the local council. I'd be surprised if you had to pay more than a nominal charge for short term respite care.

Bogof_Babe · 28 June 2006 at 5:27PM

The "coming out of hospital" rehabilitation package does seem to be free, i.e. home visits by care workers up to three times a day, but with a maximum duration of six weeks. My dad had this, but the idea is to get the person back to being able to care for themselves at home.

Not wanting to be depressing, but it was always stated that this ran out after six weeks, whatever the state of the person being cared for, and it was only for home care not residential.

My parents have now been told that in view of their savings (i.e. more than £21K each) any further help will have to be paid for by themselves.

This seems fair enough actually. What else are their savings for? When and if they drop below the £21K then the government will start to pay for their care needs.

Do make sure your parents are getting all the benefits they are entitled to - Attendance Allowance for your mum, Carers Allowance for your dad etc.

margaretclare · 28 June 2006 at 5:49PM

Bogof_Babe wrote:

My parents have now been told that in view of their savings (i.e. more than £21K each) any further help will have to be paid for by themselves.

This seems fair enough actually. What else are their savings for? When and if they drop below the £21K then the government will start to pay for their care needs.

Ah yes, Bogof_Babe, but many people don't see it that way. Some younger people see it as their inheritance and don't want mum and dad to spend it on their own needs!!!! Don't get me started on that one....

I think Dad may not get Carer's Allowance if he gets Retirement Pension. I get AA but my DH cannot get CA because he gets SRP. Actually it has been suggested to me that we could BOTH claim AA for each other - DH is an insulin-using diabetic, sometimes goes hypo in the night which (fortunately) wakes him up and he doesn't disturb me, but it could be said that he needs 'attention during the night'!

Best wishes

Margaret Clare

Edinburghlass_2 · 28 June 2006 at 6:07PM

gentlepurr, if your Mum and Dad can get into the "system" probably via their own local GP surgery there should be lots of help available as Elona says for both Mum and Dad

MrT_5 · 28 June 2006 at 8:04PM

If any of your parents served in any of the armed forces including TA then the British Legion may be able to help. Even if it is only advice it can't hurt to give them a ring.

Dora_the_Explorer_5 · 28 June 2006 at 10:51PM

If your parents were civil servants there is help available at http://www.csbf.org.uk/help_advice/index.asp

Could your mum stay at home with extra visits from homecare workers? This would be a considerably cheaper option than a place in a residential/nursing home if your parents have to meet the full cost themselves. It could also be much less disruptive for both of them, and they would be able to enjoy each others company. All social services have an older peoples team, they can give you all the info and advice you ask for.

gentlepurr · 29 June 2006 at 2:42PM

thanks for all your help all, although i have found out that they will have to pay, at least its opened up other avenues for disscussion with them both, and having managed, finally to get my dad to contact social services, at least it means we will have a point of reference for other things in the future.

thanks all.

xx

Savvy_Sue · 29 June 2006 at 7:27PM

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

Could your mum stay at home with extra visits from homecare workers? This would be a considerably cheaper option than a place in a residential/nursing home if your parents have to meet the full cost themselves. It could also be much less disruptive for both of them, and they would be able to enjoy each others company. All social services have an older peoples team, they can give you all the info and advice you ask for.

And another suggestion if mum would find it very hard to be apart from Dad is for both of them to go into a home for a short while: a friend of mine who cares for his wife had to have heart surgery, so after coming out of hospital he booked himself in with her for a while before they both went home.

I accept this may not be the cheapest option, but if it can be afforded (and it can surely be justified!) it may be a good solution.

Also if anyone's mentioned Pension Credit as a possible benefit I've missed it.

jenniferpa · 30 June 2006 at 4:06PM

Also, another possible benefit, if your mother's disability is mental not only physical, there is something called Council Tax disregards. You must be "seriously mentally impaired" and receiving the appropriate disbility benefit, and have that certified by a doctor, but it's not means tested.

Jennifer

help! momgoing into home short term. help with fees'?

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