Care home fees for self funders

kkgree1

I was going to say the same about the care fees website but having read the Guardian article I agree with Bogalot entirely!

My MIL has been in a residential care home for 2 years. The home is majority self-funders with a few LA funded residents.

I wanted to add that it is always worth asking for a discount - we did this when she moved rooms as she wanted to be on the ground floor and it was originally £200 per week more than her upstairs room due to the larger en-suite! We managed to get this down to £50 extra per week. We think it is good value compared to some homes locally. It is difficult to compare like with like particularly with en-suite rooms as some homes don't offer many of these.

We have gone down the immediate needs/care annuity route this year and it has made life easier meeting the care fees. I would recommend this to self-funders as it can be very reasonable if you may need to meet long-term care needs, as in my MIL's case.

Mr_Toad

AylesburyDuck wrote: »

Not surprised your sensitive, must admit i have had my eyes opened slightly more today, the discrimination is appalling and does need addressing, im actually not sure how they get away with it given their own criteria.:eek:

Have you any experience of getting CHC funding for dementia?

I've been through it with both parents and yes dementia is a medical condition.

However, there is no cure and no effective treatment so almost no medical input towards care.

Care homes are exactly that, they care for people, not medically for the most part other than to make sure they take any prescribed medication.

What the care home does is ensure that the person with dementia is safe, doesn't wander off or do anything dangerous.

My Mum used to remove plugs. She'd grip them as you or I would but instead of removing them safely she'd pull them part way out then put her finger behind the plug so it was across the live and neutral pins to pull it out. She had several shocks and I'm surprised she didn't kill herself.

They wash, dress them and feed them if required, none of which is medical, it's social care and nothing to do with the NHS.

I got partial CHC funding for Dad as he had other medical requirements but as he was self funding all that meant was his money lasted a bit longer before running out at which point Social Services took over the funding.

There was no top-up funding as I only looked at homes that took Social Services funded people as well as self funders. This meant that when the money ran out he stayed in the same home even though Social Services pay less than self funders.

The home he was in was fantastic and his care second to none and no different once he was no longer self funding. I have nothing but praise for the home, its staff and the care they gave him.

Mum's home is the same, it's a fantastic place with wonderful staff and she's fully funded by Social Services.

I can turn up at any time of the day or night and Mum is clean, well fed and happy. Whenever I go, no matter what time, someone brings tea and biscuits. Mum thinks she's in a hotel!!!

My parents were wealthy but I see no reason an earth why their accumulated wealth should not be used to fund their care.

People get angry because they are 'loosing their inheritance' but I have no problem with that. I didn't earn that money, it wasn't mine and the country can't afford to look after people and pay for it just so their children can inherit.

Of course family can keep the money but only if they look after the dementia sufferer instead of putting them in care home.

Most can't or don't want to. Mum looked after Dad until she was unable to cope and he went into a home.

I cared for Mum when she got dementia, I worked from home so was able to move in and work from the family home. I cared for her in this way as long as I could until lack of sleep and pneumonia put me out of action and Mum in a home where she remains.

jstallan

It's been a year since my Dad passed but when he had to go into a care home this is what happened.
Dad owned his own house (Mum already passed) and had savings over the threshold plus private pension.

Unfortunately Dad fell down the stairs at home and was in hospital for 10(ish) weeks. Although we never got to the stage of a dementia diagnosis it was clear to see he had it and the fall had made is worse. Hospital said he could be discharged but not to go back home.

We were assigned a 'case worker' who was based at the hospital. We were told to look for a Care Home that support Dementia. We were advised that the Local Authority (LA) no longer had Care homes but it did have 'booked beds' available in selected homes and that if we were to take one of those we would be charged the LA rate not the care home rate. If we wanted a home outside of 'their list' then we would have to pay the full Care Home rate.

We looked around at both care homes on the list and those not on the list and to be fair those on the list seemed nicer, so we elected on of those (it was a BUPA one).

The LA then subjected me to a finance review to see if I could afford the care home for the next 2 years. I could, so that wasn't a problem but I would come under review again in 18 months time. No problem with any of that.

The cost was about two-thirds of the 'advertised' fees had we approached the Care Home directly. For the 6 weeks Dad was there (he was under End Of Life care) he loved it, they loved him.

So, OP, if your relative is in hospital and hospital say they can be discharged but only to a care home see if you can look at some LA select places. You might find something ideal that is also financially sustainable for the long term.

onlyroz

AylesburyDuck wrote: »

Can i ask why self funded? If dementia is diagnosed then surely NHS continuity of care takes over fees.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/dementia-guide/Pages/dementia-and-social-services.aspx

Not a chance. Many dementia sufferers have few "medical" needs - being unable to feed, dress or toilet yourself counts as a "social" need.