Funding for Care Homes

worriedmummy123

Hello all.

Not sure if this is the right place or whether you can help me, but I need some advice regarding the funding of a place at a residential home for my Nan. I have no idea how these things are worked out so any advice or links to useful websites would be appreciated.

My Nan is in hospital in Bedfordshire. She was in sheltered accomodation but when the hospital wanted to discharge her, the warden etc said they would not have her back as they could no longer meet her care needs. A social worker at the hospital said she needed residential care and we asked if we could move her to Berkshire to be close to us. He said that would be fine and even necessary for her as she was very isolated.

So we started looking at homes, and the social worker specified that the home should deal with dementia. We have found 2 with vacancies in homes that are registered to deal with dementia but the social worker said that they are too expensive. He said that the upper limit they would fund is £485/week which would be reduced in line with her income. Her income is £250/week so they are saying that they will therefore add £235 to her income to reach the maximum fund limit. She has no savings.

The problem is there is nothing in this area for less than £600/week at all and the ones that have vacancies are £650 and £780/week.

We don't know what to do now. The social worker is happy that she needs to come to this area for her well-being but the hospital want her out as soon as possible. I know they are having another meeting tomorrow but I don't know what the possible outcomes will be. There is nobody in the family that can pay the difference and we don't know what to do now.

Any help would be great!! Thank you for reading.

elsien

Does she need a residential home or a nursing home? Crucial difference, as if you can show she has health needs in addition to social care needs you can fight for NHS funding.

http://alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/452

I don't know how feasible this is for you, but I know that the NHS fight tooth and nail not to have to pay it, so if you want to look into it you'll need to phone the alzheimer society or do some more googling for some proper information as to how to go about it. And be prepared for a hell of a battle.

worriedmummy123

Hi, thanks for the reply. She has been assesed as requiring residential care only and not needing nursing care at this time. Although from what I have just read I may contact the social worker and ask why he feels she does not require nursing care and then have a look at following this route.

elsien

You could also try help the aged or age concern about the funding gap -must be a situation they've come across before.
And throw it back at the social worker - specifying something that doesn't exist is seriously not helpful - make them do a bit of work as well. They're going to be getting it in the neck for bed blocking, so ask them what they plan to do about it.
Unfortunately places for people with dementia come at a bit of a premium and the vacancies just aren't always around.
Good luck.

elsien

Also found this on the help the aged site - useful ammo for you.

"If the homes near you are more expensive than her current area Social Services will usually need a third-party to be willing to pay a top-up to cover the difference in cost. However, if needing to live near you is formally recorded in her assessment then Social Services should only ask for a third-party contribution if she chooses a more expensive home compared to other suitable homes in your area."

Refers to moving care homes, but I don't see how it's that much different to your situation - exactly the same as going into care in her own area first then moving to be closer to you.

With the current recession, some areas are trying really hard to wriggle out of their obligations, so you need to double check where you stand with other agencies and not just take social services word for it. They don't always give all the relevant information.

DX2

http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/guide/practicalsupport/Pages/Chargingforresidentialcare.aspx

johnwayne

Have you asked for a Continueing Care Assessment?

I was told several times over a couple of years that my grandad did not qualify for funding but when he went to hospital we refused to have him back home & insisted on an assessment.

When he had the assessment he was awarded funding & they asked why he had not been assessed before as he had obviously qualified for it for quite some time!

It may be worth a try.

Good luck

worriedmummy123

Hi, thanks for the advice folks. I am going to push for the continuing care assesment I think. Thanks to DX2 for the link....very helpful. I am really don't want to get old and frail!

worriedmummy123

Hi, I thought I would give you an update. The result of the meeting mentioned above was negative. They said they would not fund £650 for a care home place. This was the cheapest of the two we found. So it got referred up the ladder several times as far as the director.They kept saying no and offering suggestions such as us paying the difference ourselves or keeping her in the cheaper area. We kept saying that was not acceptable and quoting Help the Aged and Department of Health guidelines at them. We emailed 3 MPs and the Minister for Care Services and suddenly Social Services saw our point of view!! She will be leaving hospital in the next few days!

elsien

That's good news - glad that you managed to fight your corner and win. She's bound to be happier being closer to you all. Always nice to see us ordinary folk making social services do what they should be doing instead of going for the cheapest option.

Meenu

In my experience you have to be persistent with social services, I was and it paid off
Well done to you for achieving your goal I know it can seem very frustrating, there is lots of help available see if you can contact your local carers org they have good links and will support you (even though your nan is in care)
Your nan is lucky to have caring relatives