Entitlement to help whilst in a nursing home?

shirlgirl2004

My brother was self-employed until May 2009 when he became seriously ill. He is now in a nursing home where all his needs are taken care of. However although the NHS pays for his care he has to provide toiletries and clothes. He does have a large amount of savings so would he be entitled to any benefit? Other than his savings interest (almost nothing because we need to find a decent account) he has no other income.

alwaysonthego_2

How much savings does he have?

Is he claiming DLA (under 65) or AA (over 65)?

anmarj

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Is he claiming DLA (under 65) or AA (over 65)?

I understood that if the NHS are paying for the care he is not entitled to the DLA/AA

alwaysonthego_2

anmarj wrote: »

I understood that if the NHS are paying for the care he is not entitled to the DLA/AA

Not necessarily, it may get reduced.

healy

anmarj wrote: »

I understood that if the NHS are paying for the care he is not entitled to the DLA/AA

I think he would keep any DLA mobility award.

anmarj

but he is being funded by NHS not local council authority funded, which if I remember from guidance seen recently, he is being treated by hospital which means that it would stop totally. he is technially in hospital but being treated in a care home.

shirlgirl2004

Ok he is well under 65, his savings are in excess of £50k. He gets no benefit at the moment. I assume his care is NHS funded because we went to a funding meeting at the hospital but they didn't actually say it would be NHS funded. He has many medical needs as he has a tracheotomy, is fed via a tube straight into his stomach and is double incontinent.

So if it is NHS funded would he therefore not be entitled to anything? I assume he (or rather his family) would be expected to buy clothes etc from his savings until such time as they ran out?

dottydora

Sounds like he is getting chc funding (continuing health care funding) which means NHS are funding his care and should be looking at all of his nursing needs. DLA is non means tested so his savings should not matter, however I don't know if he can claim DLA whilst he is in a Nursing Home that is funded by NHS. If you call Department of Work and Pensions DLA advice line they can answer this without giving individual details.
Hope that helps.

joyciebird

If a person is funded by the NHS under continuing Health care, they are not entitled to receive any payment of either DLA care or Mobility as the care home would be classed as a similar institution/hospital

Kimitatsu

From the age concern website:

Benefits while in hospital
Your state pension does not change no matter how long you are in hospital but Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are suspended after 28 days. Pension Credit‚ Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit can be affected if you lose AA or DLA. Carer’s Allowance can be affected if the person you care for goes into hospital or you go into hospital. You will need to let the office that pays your benefits know when you go into hospital and when you are discharged.

You can check on www.entitledto.co.uk but I am fairly sure that the levels of savings mean that you will be ineligible for any benefits. You may be eligible for grant funding although with levels of savings that are that high then put into an interest account as he is in continuing care I cannot see that they would not more than cover the basics that you have outlined.

DX2

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

Ok he is well under 65, his savings are in excess of £50k. He gets no benefit at the moment. I assume his care is NHS funded because we went to a funding meeting at the hospital but they didn't actually say it would be NHS funded. He has many medical needs as he has a tracheotomy, is fed via a tube straight into his stomach and is double incontinent.

So if it is NHS funded would he therefore not be entitled to anything? I assume he (or rather his family) would be expected to buy clothes etc from his savings until such time as they ran out?

With 50k + in savings he wouldn't be entitled to any help benefit wise.