Selling home to pay care home fees?

Errata

Details of all Care Homes in a district/area are available on the Care Quality Commission website, together with the latest report for each one.
There's nothing to stop anyone seeking an appointment with any of them to visit and discuss facilities, costs & etc.

Mojisola

Errata wrote: »

Details of all Care Homes in a district/area are available on the Care Quality Commission website, together with the latest report for each one.
There's nothing to stop anyone seeking an appointment with any of them to visit and discuss facilities, costs & etc.

The really good care homes told us not to make an appointment. They said any home should be prepared to show you round at any time (unless they have an emergency occurring or at meal times) and to be wary of ones that insisted on an appointment.

The problem with the Commission reports is that there is a lot of box ticking to show compliance with standards but the sum of the parts doesn't always add up to a good result on the ground.

The homes that the LA directed us towards were obviously meeting all the required standards but they weren't places I would have wanted to stay myself.

As an example - they may be able to show that they have the required number of staff on at any set time but when the staff are mostly young with minimum training, not always fluent in English, and regularly moving on to other jobs, the care they can provide just isn't as good as it should be.

Errata

I don't disagree with you, the reports could be better, but I think an appointment is courteous. Homes aren't zoos, open to anyone to rock up at any time and gawp at premises, facilities and residents.

Mojisola

Errata wrote: »

I don't disagree with you, the reports could be better, but I think an appointment is courteous. Homes aren't zoos, open to anyone to rock up at any time and gawp at premises, facilities and residents.

We had made an appointment at one home and then, as there was another one nearby and we had time, we called on them, apologising for not having called them in advance - they strongly advised us not to call but that any good home should be ready to show people round without advance notice. We've since been told this by several other homes.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

I don't disagree with you, the reports could be better, but I think an appointment is courteous. Homes aren't zoos, open to anyone to rock up at any time and gawp at premises, facilities and residents.

I can see exactly what you're saying Errata, but I do think that at least one visit without an appointment would be very useful before making the final decision. If someone can pretty much be free to show you round at any (reasonable) time, then that speaks better of the staff to resident ratios than if an unexpected visitor is a problem.

Errata

Thanks Sue,
I still dislike ad hoc, because the home is the residents home, not a public place, and should be treated as such, and the people who live there cared for with dignity and respect. Visitors will see and hear exactly the same thing in lounges, dining rooms and kitchens whether the appointment is ad hoc or by appointment. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Staff tasked with showing people round can block an appointment in their diary so they're free, they can't block a portion of their day to be free in case someone drops in.
It's a thorny subject, but one that I feel quite passionate about. A Home is a business, but it is also their home for many people. One of those takes primacy, and it should be the residents right to a private and quiet life.
(puts tin hat on)

Savvy_Sue

You don't need your tin hat for me!!!

I think it's a conundrum, but I do agree that it's not a zoo, and the residents shouldn't feel they are being inspected!

Mojisola

Errata wrote: »

I still dislike ad hoc, because the home is the residents home, not a public place, and should be treated as such, and the people who live there cared for with dignity and respect.

It's a thorny subject, but one that I feel quite passionate about. A Home is a business, but it is also their home for many people. One of those takes primacy, and it should be the residents right to a private and quiet life.

I don't see what the difference is - the visitors are being shown around a home whether it's by appointment or not.

I initially made appointments for the sake of the staff rather than it making any difference to the residents.

studio_two

Mojisola wrote: »

It's still worth doing the sums. My Dad's care home fees are around £500.

My Grandfather will be taken into care tomorrow (after a coule of months in hospital). It all seems rather sudden and a bit of a whirlwind - he's deteriorated physically and mentally in the last couple of weeks.

He owns an outdated terraced house with no central heating or double glazing. I tried to get him to do these things, but he was resistant. I guess his home isn't really rentable as it stands. It's a shame, as he has substantial savings (around 70k) and could have easily funded the improvements.

Savvy_Sue

studio_two wrote: »

My Grandfather will be taken into care tomorrow (after a coule of months in hospital). It all seems rather sudden and a bit of a whirlwind - he's deteriorated physically and mentally in the last couple of weeks.

He owns an outdated terraced house with no central heating or double glazing. I tried to get him to do these things, but he was resistant. I guess his home isn't really rentable as it stands. It's a shame, as he has substantial savings (around 70k) and could have easily funded the improvements.

Does anyone have Power of Attorney for him? If he has the 'capacity' and is willing to entertain the idea, it's better to do it sooner rather than later. If someone does have PofA, then it could be considered that it's in his interests to update the house with a view to making it lettable, as he'd then have an ongoing income.