Please help. Dad Died, Mum has dementia. Advice about care home fees needed.

van22663

Please could someone give me some advice. I am getting so many conflicting opinions that I am a bit lost. My Dad has died very suddenly & as he was Mums full time carer, I have had to put her into emergency respite care. She is now in hospital as she got an infection in the care home. We have had an initial assessment in the hospital from a hospital social worker & she has recommended that Mum needs 24 hour care in a residential/nursing home. The main problem is dementia but Mum was fine until a fall in May this year & her health has declined from there. The reason for her fall was due to her blood pressure plummeting every time she stood up, think it is called postural hypotension...therefore, she could only walk a few steps with a frame before feeling very faint & falling.
The hospital have said she will not be entitled to NHS continuing care, does this mean, we will have to pay for care home fees. Mum does have a house but I also have a downs syndrome brother who had a room there. He did not live with my parents but he stopped every weekend. My house is too small for my brother aswell as I have 2 children of my own. I have read many cases recently where people have reclaimed care home fees for dementia patients so I am really hoping that we willnot have to pay all the fees. We are waiting for the hospital to put Mum in a "stepdown " bed while we find her a suitable care home. As far as I know, she has not had a PCT assessment yet, am I jumping the gun do you think ? any advice would be greatly appreciated, I feel totally out of my depth . many thanks

clemmatis

Please ring AgeUK, but briefly, have a look at these pages

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2392.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=681

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/what-is-nhs-funded-nursing-care.aspx

Age UK

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/contact-us/

Dunroamin

Surely your brother with DS won't come back for weekends to a house where he'll be on his own?

Torry_Quine

Dunroamin wrote: »

Surely your brother with DS won't come back for weekends to a house where he'll be on his own?

That's what I wondered.

Presuming that she isn't eligible for continuing care then yes she will have to pay the fees herself from any savings and then the house proceeds. Do you or anyone else have power of attorney for her?

clemmatis

Torry_Quine wrote: »

That's what I wondered.

Presuming that she isn't eligible for continuing care then yes she will have to pay the fees herself from any savings and then the house proceeds. Do you or anyone else have power of attorney for her?

The thing is -- and hence my post -- she may not have to pay them all even if she doesn't qualify for CHC.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/what-is-nhs-funded-nursing-care.aspx

van22663

Thanks for your replies. No,my brother will not be able to come back to an empty house. He is in sheltered accommodation, so he is safe enough. Mum does not have any savings, nor did Dad. Just what they had in the bank. I have applied forpower of attorney for Mum,it is being actioned now. Mum has a pension & she did get attendance allowance when she was at home but obviously,that has now stopped. I have asked the social worker today if Mum can have a full PCT assessment & she said she would get back tome.Mum has numerous medical conditions but none seem to count towards her needing CHC. Today,Mum is being transferred to a step down bed awaiting assessment. They wanted to do an assessment for means testing but I have requested the full pct assessment first. Not sure what happens now or even if they may refuse the full assessment.

PippaGirl_2

What's a pct assessment?

Your Mum will either be assessed as needing either residential or nursing home care, they are different and the assessment will say what she needs. If the memory/processing problems only started recently, have they discounted other causes such as chronic UTI? Otherwise it is very early for a dementia diagnosis unless done by specialist Doctors who have ruled out other treatable causes.

There is a property disregard period of time where the property is placed on the market which hopefully will be time for the house to sell. After that the value of the property will be taken into account and if it hasn't sold a legal financial arrangement is made placing a claim on the equity of the property so she can continue having care while it sells.
You will be able to influence the choice of homes, once you know whether it is residential or nursing care she requires you can search online for your local ones and can then phone around seeing who has vacancies, go view and talk to the staff.
Anymore questions do pm me.

clemmatis

van22663 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. No,my brother will not be able to come back to an empty house. He is in sheltered accommodation, so he is safe enough. Mum does not have any savings, nor did Dad. Just what they had in the bank. I have applied forpower of attorney for Mum,it is being actioned now. Mum has a pension & she did get attendance allowance when she was at home but obviously,that has now stopped. I have asked the social worker today if Mum can have a full PCT assessment & she said she would get back tome.Mum has numerous medical conditions but none seem to count towards her needing CHC. Today,Mum is being transferred to a step down bed awaiting assessment. They wanted to do an assessment for means testing but I have requested the full pct assessment first. Not sure what happens now or even if they may refuse the full assessment.

If she has to self-fund, she can retain Attendance Allowance. So, renew it (I'm sorry, I don't know exactly how that's done).

Torry_Quine

van22663 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. No,my brother will not be able to come back to an empty house. He is in sheltered accommodation, so he is safe enough. Mum does not have any savings, nor did Dad. Just what they had in the bank. I have applied forpower of attorney for Mum,it is being actioned now. Mum has a pension & she did get attendance allowance when she was at home but obviously,that has now stopped. I have asked the social worker today if Mum can have a full PCT assessment & she said she would get back tome.Mum has numerous medical conditions but none seem to count towards her needing CHC. Today,Mum is being transferred to a step down bed awaiting assessment. They wanted to do an assessment for means testing but I have requested the full pct assessment first. Not sure what happens now or even if they may refuse the full assessment.

Your brother having a room there for visits would I think be immaterable when deciding if the house value is counted. The AA should only have stopped after she has been in hospital for a certain time - 28 days - and as she will most likely be self-funding will then start again when in the care home.

Does she have the capacity to make you her attorney in view of her dementia?

van22663

Thanks all for your replies. In reply toTorre Quine, Mum has not been officially diagnosed with dementia. She will have days when she is totally with it & other days, she gets confused. She recognizes everyone but gets mixed up with time frames and she calls for her sister who has been dead for years. She has had a couple of assessments but they never get completed.
With response to PippaGirl, PCT is Primary Care trust, something that I believe has to be done to assess whether she will get NHS funding. With regards toMums medical conditions, she has COPD or lung disease,she has repeated chest infections due to this & having TB as a child. She has high blood pressure but also blood pressure dips when she stands,causing her to faint. She is very malnourished because she will not eat or drink & keeps ending up on a drip. She is also prone to UTI's . Mum was admitted tohospital this time with a chest infection & mrsa. The outreach dementia team have been called to doa proper assessment on mum. Think I have to wait to see what the fullassessment comes up with now.

van22663

Sorry for the joined up words.....my spacer bar has broken !