Help with care home funding

gallygirl

Hi all, I posted this on the benefits forum but got no replies so am hoping soemone here can help . Can anyone give me some advice please on what if anything my mother is entitled to.

She currently has carers coming in 4 times a day & can only stand with assistance, can't walk etc. I think the time has come for her to go into a home.

At present she pays £30 a week towards her care - this I believe was means tested. The County Council pick up additional bill. Her total income is around £1050 a month, with presumably an additional £60ish for higher rate attendance allowance (just claiming that now).

She owns her own bungalow but in todays market it is worth only 120kish. She only has around 3k in savings.

Am I right in thinking if she goes into a home the CC will pay the 1st 12 weeks then she is liable? Is she entitled to any help at all if she has sold her house?

Also, I believe if house takes longer than 12 weeks to sell CC will continue to pay and then recoup costs when sale goes through. I read somewhere on MSE that this is actually beneficial as CC get home at a much lower rate? Is this right?

Mum's house needs at least complete painting throughout (I've refused to do it up to now as she is a heavy smoker & last time I did it 'browned up' in a matter of months). By the time I do this at weekends and then the sale goes through it is likely to be well over 12 weeks - do they CC send their heavies round? What if house won't sell - can they force a sale at a much reduced price?

Finally, I know she will want to give me & kids some money - is there a limit on what the CC will 'allow' her to give or does that only become an issue when her funds run out?

Thanks all.

bryanb

I'd like time to think about your questions. But do you realise that care homes are non smoking?

bryanb

To answer your 2nd last Q, if the house does not sell the Local Auth will put a charge on it and eventually get their money. It could be advantageous to do it this depending how quickly (or not) house prices recover.

bryanb

CC do get a better rate when paying care costs, but I don't think this is passed on when someone becomes self funding. There is an individual contract with clients in my mother's care home Beware also of "extras" Hairdressing, Manicure, Podiatrist, Occ therapist, Etc etc.

bryanb

Attendance Allce, and DLA remain payable in care but are excluded from the means test. Pension Credit is often reduced on the grounds that any amount in respect of severe disability is no longer applicable. Any pension credit that is still paid is also excluded from means test.
Everything I have said is from experience not necessarily the law, But it happened in Oxfordshire 3yrs ago.

Errata

Your concerns are understandable but does your mum want to move out of her home into residential care? Could she continue to live in her home if she had extra visits from carers? Has her social worker done a recent needs assessment?
Age Concern website has excellent informative leaflets on all the questions you've asked and your local one could also give you the information you need over the telephone, but briefly she will have to pay all the fees out of the proceeds of her house sale until her assets reduce to around £21K at which point the local authority starts to contribute and meet all the fees once her assets reduce to around £12K, exact figures on the Age Concern website.
Some care homes are non-smoking, others have a smoking room or area for residents.

gallygirl

Thanks for info, both of you.

Yes, she is aware homes are non-smoking. TBH I am using this as leverage to try to get her back on her feet & get some independence back! No point in asking her to stop now after 65 yrs, if watching dad die of lung cancer didn't stop her I don't suppose anything will .

Errata she doesn't want to move out of home. However, at the moment she can't walk at all and sleeps on the sofa- she refuses to go to bed, and hasn't since shortly after dad died 6 yrs ago. She has bed sores which I think would go if she went to bed and had natural night time movement. I've told her that but she still refuses.

She has been reassessed in last few weeks at 4 visits. This might be enough if a) she would relax enough & trust carers to turn up - she often sits with fists clenched between visits, this stress makes her various conditions worse, and b) the carers bl**dy well did turn up on time - that's another battle I'm fighting - lets not go there.....But she is constantly phoning me & others as she MUST go to the toilet NOW etc, these calls only occur when she knows we can respond, so a lot of it is psychological & understandable. But not easy for any concerned, particularly if I'm out & about (v poor mobile reception) so don't get call for a few hours.

She needs to weigh up fear of going into a home against fear of carrying on as she is..... she's driven people who've been very good to her away as she has become totally self obsessed. Fear of losing independence v fear of being stuck alone in her own home, she needs to make decision but I want to know logistics of whole thing as I will be doing the organising. I visit every day but often am away with work or get home late - changing jobs not an option as a local job would be less than 1/2 salary & I'm putting 2 kids through uni. And TBH I'm not a natural carer and would be doing both of us a disservice if I tried to be .

I'll check out Age Concern site - thanks for this.

Errata

You're welcome. Is there any chance of having a bed downstairs? Might solve the 'not going to bed' problem. For the pressure sores - this is a difficult one and can only be solved by good medical care from her GP practice.
The problem of carers turning up late has always been a problem. They are time pressured by their employers and also sometimes need to spend a little extra time with visits, making them late for the next one.
Would your mum give her GP permissio for you to discuss her wellbeing and care with them? There may be something that can be done to reduce her stress levels.
One thing that perhaps needs to be understood is that if your mum moves into a care home she may have even fewer people having any kind of conversation with her than she does now. Workers too busy and other residents unable/unwilling. They can be very lonely places.
Very few people are natural carers, many have caring duties thrust on them.
Good luck, HTH.

bryanb

Also worth looking into the amount of "Nursing" care your mum needs as the cost of this should be met by NHS, but it can be difficult to establish this, and even more difficult to get them to actually pay.

gallygirl

Errata she's already in a bungalow :rolleyes: . As for the carers..... we're talking aboyt turning up at 8pm for 5.30-6.pm visit, conversely at 7.45pm for 9pm visit. Both these have happened in the last week. I have spoken to her GP but not a lot he can do, especially re bed sores, if she doesn't want to help herself .

She's aware if she goes into a home she will get few visitors & have few people to speak to, this is part of the reason she doesn't want to go. However, that is now losing out to her fear of being 'abandoned' in her own home, so we'll see.

bryanb - she doesn't really need much nursing, but I'll make sure this is looked into.

Thanks both.

furndire

Be careful how you answer questions ~ is there something about the doctor needing to say that she needs to go into a home, and fees are paid, but if you say you think she needs to go into a home then you pay yourself. This cropped up in a conversation when I was talking to someone whose father went into a home, and family "yes we think he needs to go into home," and were later told by family of patient in identical room that they were getting fees paid.
Maybe someone else can put me right, or clarify