Tories announce end to forced home sales for care costs

bryanb

ninky wrote: »

the real issue that needs facing is the frankly daylight robbery rates that get charged for shoddy longterm care of the elderly. 700 to 800 quid a week is not uncommon just for putting people in a room, giving them a bit of substandard food and increasingly not even providing a 24hr residential warden but instead a magic button they can press if in need of care..

I think you are probably confusing care with sheltered accommodation here

ninky_2

bryanb wrote: »

I think you are probably confusing care with sheltered accommodation here

no i had to look into this area recently and there are care homes that don't always have someone on site too. plus there are meant to be strict criteria to assess the homes that are suited for different levels of need. many residential care homes that aren't supposed to have elderly with dementia or severe medical conditions actually don't really follow these guidelines. sometimes it's because they worry about the unsettling effect. other times you worry it's more to do with not wanting to lose a paying customer by regrading them.

ninky_2

kennyboy66 wrote: »

Sadly, you will still get people moaning that they are only inheriting £270k rather than £300k.

all the while making little effort to care for their parents. i'd rather inherit nothing but know that my mum and dad had the best level of care.

baileysbattlebus

ninky wrote: »

is there such a thing? out of interest, how much does this cost? and what does it cover? (would be interesting to see if the tories are actually suggesting a more expensive version of something that already exists on the market).

yes this insurance currently exists - it's called an immediate needs annuity - premiums vary quite a lot between providers.

A typical example of an 88 year old woman going into a care home with a heart problem the premium would be £80k for a return of about £23k a year. Obviously the fitter you are the more you pay. If the fees to the home were £500 per week the income wouldn't quite cover the care home fees. If the annuity pay the care home direct the income is tax free.

It's quite complex and expensive - and tbh if OH and I could get guaranteed care home funding for £8k each in 10 years time - I would bite their hands off.

OH's mother went into a care home when she was 87 and was in it until she died at 98 - the home was marvellous. They did all sorts for the residents - she was state funded - she had never owned a house and had quite small savings - but as the home cost more than the council upper limit - we paid the difference for the 11 years she was in there. It's called third party top up.

And ofcourse there are other ways round avoiding care home fees - called preservation of assets. You need a decent solicitor and a trust.

ninky_2

baileysbattlebus wrote: »

OH's mother went into a care home when she was 87 and was in it until she died at 98 - the home was marvellous. They did all sorts for the residents - she was state funded - she had never owned a house and had quite small savings - but as the home cost more than the council upper limit - we paid the difference for the 11 years she was in there. It's called third party top up.

.

it's not clear what this 8k will fund. will it allow choice of care - or this third party top up thingy?

treliac

ninky wrote: »

no i had to look into this area recently and there are care homes that don't always have someone on site too.

That's a contradiction in terms. Residential care home means 24 hr staffing. Otherwise it's supported living / sheltered accommodation.

ninky_2

treliac wrote: »

That's a contradiction in terms. Residential care home means 24 hr staffing. Otherwise it's supported living / sheltered accommodation.

i think that's true for nursing homes but not residential care homes (which again are not the same as sheltered accommodation). either way they are all expensive. although i think there is a lack of full time nursing home places which means they can charge even more ridiculous price for them.

http://www.islington.gov.uk/Health/ServicesforAdults/care_homes.asp

baileysbattlebus

ninky wrote: »

it's not clear what this 8k will fund. will it allow choice of care - or this third party top up thingy?

I would imagine it will allow a choice of care home - the £8k from what I understand is a one off insurance bought a the age of 65 - if you need care in the future the will cover it for the rest of your life. And in theory allow you keep any house you might own and any money you might have.

To be honest I'm not exactly sure how this will work in pratice, as almost every care home charges a different rate and they differ quite a lot depending on where you live - the south east is more expensive the the north east for instance.

Third party top up is when the care home chosen is more expensive than the council will pay (this is for state funded people) and the shortfall in money is paid by someone else - it could be a relative or a charity or in the case of ex service people a benevolent fund - in OH's mother's case the extra money was paid by us.

mewbie_2

I guess the 8k is an insurance. But maybe the care homes will be run by Group 4.

baileysbattlebus

ninky wrote: »

i think that's true for nursing homes but not residential care homes (which again are not the same as sheltered accommodation). either way they are all expensive. although i think there is a lack of full time nursing home places which means they can charge even more ridiculous price for them.

http://www.islington.gov.uk/Health/ServicesforAdults/care_homes.asp

I think you misunderstand a residential care home has 24 hour care - not necessarily provided by a qualified nurse - it's normally a health care assistant. People in residential care need someone there 24/7 - as they are not able to live on their own - OH's mother went in because she kept falling - sometimes was there all night - in the care home there were staff there all day and night. Just not nurses.

Nursing homes have 24 hour qualified nursing care - people in these are ill and need medical care too.

from your link

Residential and nursing homes provide accommodation, meals, care and support from staff, which is available 24 hours a day. You can also see a GP in both types of home