Care Home for mum

portchieboy

Please move to the right thread, if this is incorrect.

Dear old Mum in Law is 82, has Parkinsons and Alzheimers, and has always lived in her own place. Sadly, she is going downhill fast and I can see that within a fortnight at the present rate she will not be able to cope.

We cannot care for her full time, and have not the room to put her up, sadly.

She lives in Portsmouth, and I was wondering if any of you kind folks had been through this? The 'Social services' seem very distant and hard to get going. What is available, and how can we get her in to a Care Home?

She has maybe £20k in savings.....will this be used, or is there a limit around which the Council has to pay....she has paid in for all of her life after all!

Any ideas/links etc, especially personal experiences would be valued.

Thanks.

Iguana

Does she own her property that she lives in?
Have you asked for an assesssment of needs?

portchieboy

No, Council property.

I don't know the assessment of needs, but as I say i seriuosly think she will be totally dependant on care within a week or two.

seven-day-weekend

This may help:

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Vb2oXRH9rMYJ:www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/selffundingcarehome.pdf+care+home+funding&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=uk

LondonDiva

Best place to start is to contact her GP asap. They will be able to make an appropriate referral to health / social care agencies. you can also contact the local Age concern for appropriate information and advice.

Re costs, there are links on Age Concern's website on the sliding scale of costs, information and advice. She will pay the full cost until her income drops to a certain amount, then the council will chip in, then when it gets a certain amount, the council will pay the full whack.

~~~
However, not to sound harsh but if she can afford to pay some of her costs and doesn't, the shortfall is picked up through increased council tax and everyone else then pays for her care.