Spanish pensioner parents told they are not eligible for social care?

loulou70_2

My parents are spanish nationals and have moved to the UK five months ago to live with my brother, his wife (uk national) and their 1 year old daughter. After being hospitalized on four occasions for different reasons each time, my father who's 78 and suffering from cronic ulcerative colitis and showing the first signs of Alzheimer's disease (memory loss, problems moving around without assistance, one episode of neumonia, disorientation and confusion, hallucinations,speech and communication problems, being suspicious of others, verbal aggression especially towards my mum who cares for him full time) has been told by the social service's hospital legal team that as EU nationals who have moved to the UK to live on a permanent basis with family, they are not eligible for social care and will never be.
They are entitled to free NHS as they brought with them the S1/ E121 form completed by the spanish healthcare authorities who will reinbourse all NHS hospital fees. I would like to know if this is true? They have never lived or worked here and are both in receipt of very little spanish state pensions and only have savings of £15000. Based on my brother's full time employment status they have been given permanent residency status and as advised by my local CAB are in the process of claiming pension credit, and have also claimed attendance allowance for my dad, I don't know if they will be granted these benefits and how much the pension credit will be yet, but regardless of that I don't think they will ever be able to afford the much needed carers help for my dad, especially when his Alzheimer's disease becomes too much for my mum to handle on her own and he may have to go in a carehome. The problem is that both my brother and his wife work full time and cannot help them during the day.
I am myself a full time carer to my disabled husband and mother of three, but I do what I can to help, I take them to all doctors and hospital appointments acting as interpreter as they don't speak english, and also do and deliver their shopping. My greatest concern is how all this is affecting my mum who doesn't get a break from caring for my dad at all and I think is depressed. Please Help!

stevemLS

typoProvision of LA Social Services requires that the recipient establish that they are "ordinarily resident" in the area of the LA concerned.

Have a look at the guide to Ordinary Residence here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/252864/OR_Guidance_2013-10-01_Revised__with_new_contact_details_New_DH_template.pdf

Page 16/17 - whilst it says that people from overseas is outside the scope of the guide, it does give the statutory basis by which some people are excluded and it does appear that your parents may be excluded.

This may change as the Care Act 2014 is implemented.

Ask the local authority to give you a proper written decision with reasons.

kazzah

ok so if I understand correctly

your Spanish National Parents moved to the Uk 5 months ago

after being hospitalised four times in 5 months your parents have now been told they are not eligible for social care

you are worried about how your parents will be able to afford to pay for care?

I suspect the short answer is - they won't - this is not unusual - there are many British citizens who have to sell their homes to pay for care in a residential setting or who have to sign over their property rights to Social services in order to fund their care

unfortunately this is a fact of life and as a nation we are unable to pay to care for everyone who needs it.

The money is simply not there.

Can your parents go back to spain ? could you or your brother move back to spain to support them in their own home ?

NYM

Did they have to be sponsored by your brother ?

DaveTheMus

If your father is in the early stages of Alzheimers then moving him to an unfamiliar land where he doesn't know the language and nothing is familiar will only hasten his deterioration greatly I'm afraid...

Alzheimers sufferers need consistency and what is familiar.


Any social care in the UK will be prohibitively expensive considering he doesn't speak any English.

Money_maker

Do they have any property in their home country that they can sell to pay for this country to care for them?

Londonsu

So you think that your parents should have the right to get free what UK citizens who have worked and paid into this country for years have to sell their homes to get.


I pray that on Friday we have a government with the guts to stop this abuse, your parents are Spanish, their own country the one they have paid into should pay for their care NOT THE UK

specialboy

Now now people don't feed it.

NYM

specialboy wrote: »

Now now people don't feed it.

Curiosity got the better of me....

margaretclare

They 'only' have savings of £15,000? Well, there's your answer. If they were saving for a rainy day, well, the weather has turned and it's tipping it down out there.

£15,000 of lifetime savings is a heck of a lot more than many of our own citizens have.

woolly_wombat

stevemLS wrote: »

Have a look at the guide to Ordinary Residence here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/252864/OR_Guidance_2013-10-01_Revised__with_new_contact_details_New_DH_template.pdf

Page 16/17 - whilst it says that people from overseas is outside the scope of the guide, it does give the statutory basis by which some people are excluded and it does appear that your parents may be excluded.

Your parents should not be excluded as they are EU citizens:

Extract from page 16/17 (my highlights):

[FONT=&quot]The exclusion does not apply to these groups if a failure to provide services under sections 21 or 29 of the 1948 Act would breach their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights or under the European Treaties.

[/FONT] The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights might be of interest:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/charter/index_en.htm

....the Charter has become legally binding on the EU with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, in December 2009.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights document can be found here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:0389:0403:en:PDF

[FONT=&quot]Article [/FONT][FONT=&quot]34[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Social security and social assistance[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1. The Union recognises and respects the entitlement to social security benefits and social services providing protection in cases such as maternity, illness, industrial accidents, dependency or old age, and in the case of loss of employment, in accordance with the rules laid down by Union law and national laws and practices.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2. Everyone residing and moving legally within the European Union is entitled to social security benefits and social advantages in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]3. In order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with the rules laid down by Union law and national laws and practices.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]I suggest you contact Age UK and try to determine wh[FONT=&quot]at help would be available to a UK national [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot]who had the common decency to take in their elderly relatives in the way that your family have done.

[FONT=&quot]Good luck.

[FONT=&quot]WW[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
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