Who pays for social care ?

PasturesNew

For the record:
A care home is where you live and are fed, cleaned, washing's done - and you bobble about, or get pushed about, to sit and chat with others. Any prescribed meds are dispensed.

A nursing home is where you specifically require the services of a qualified nurse, to aid with illnesses where dosages and medications might be variable. Mostly, the people who require nursing care are not able to get about by themselves and participate/eat as others do of their own free will and ability.

Care homes are without any on site qualified nurse. The district nurse might visit individual patients to, say, change dressings or similar. If they need a Doctor/similar, the local GP is called out. If they need a Hospital visit, transport/companion are sorted and it's all dealt with.

Nursing homes employ an on site nurse, who is the primary medical carer for patients' medical needs who live at that home.

Some provide both services, at differing prices, to an assortment of residents, who come under the nursing category and care category. Some homes are just for care. Some are just for nursing.

If your relative is in "just a care home" and they become ill and require nursing, the care home will assess their needs before hospital discharge and might "reject" them, disallowing them from returning to the care home as they are unable to provide the nursing aspects.

Some care homes are part of a group of care homes, where they have one or more nursing home facilities, so a resident could be accepted into the nursing facility as their needs increase.

Ask the homes which sort they are, in short "if my relative were deemed to need nursing care, could they stay here? And what if they were diagnosed as terminal, can they stay here?"

Mojisola

beattiesman wrote: »

my mum has decided it may be time to go in a home,my brother bought the flat for her over 20 years ago. 2 years ago the local council have put in a wet room & a ramp outside

When my parents had a bathroom fitted by the council, the agreement was that they would repay the cost if they moved out within five years.

Pollycat

Mojisola wrote: »

When my parents had a bathroom fitted by the council, the agreement was that they would repay the cost if they moved out within five years.

The Council fitted a walk in shower for my Dad in their senior persons, warden controlled flat, although sadly he'd been dead for almost 2 years when they came to do it. :cool:
2 blokes just turned up at my Mum's flat one day and started work.
Nothing was said about repaying.
That was about 5 years ago.

When she moved to a council bungalow (a couple of years ago), she had to fund her own walk-in shower which she needed.
The Council had to approve the work before it went ahead and check it after it was completed.

Re the thread topic:
I've had this conversation with my Mum when she throws a strop.
As she won't be self-funding, she can't just say 'I want to go into a home'.
She will need to be assessed for need.

margaretclare

Mojisola wrote: »

When my parents had a bathroom fitted by the council, the agreement was that they would repay the cost if they moved out within five years.

I've heard from various people over the years that 'the council would pay' for our new bathroom, hand-rail down the steps at the back into the garden, even when we needed the asbestos roof tiles replaced. We've never managed to get anything done by the council! Everything we've done here over the years, updating this 1930s bungalow, has been paid for by us.

A disability-friendly bathroom, I would submit, is one of the most essential modifications/improvements needed for older people.

As of this week I'm in process of helping my eldest GD with her RTB. Her fellow-tenant has declared his intention to give up the tenancy because he wants his own space. Thank goodness I've continued saving and investing! She never had a legacy from her paternal grandad, although her brother did - well, he was the only boy (grandad was a right sexist). So I'm helping her with the deposit on a council mortgage.

Keep_pedalling

beattiesman wrote: »

thanks for your answers so far, the situation is complicated as my brother lives with my mum & he has took equity release on the flat so as I understand there wont be any money or not a lot if the flat is sold,she has very little savings so couldn't fund herself ,even though he lives with her he does very little to help she is in a wheelchair & has very limited mobility she cant cook anything or make a cup of tea .

How did he manage to get equity release on her flat? What happened to that money?

agrinnall

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

How did he manage to get equity release on her flat? What happened to that money?

I thought about asking the same question, then realised that it says in the OP:

beattiesman wrote: »

my brother bought the flat for her over 20 years ago.

so I'm guessing it was always in his name.

lisyloo

what is the procedure do I get in touch with her local council & ask for a social worker

Find out who her caseworker is and ask for a re-assesment.
She can't just decide she'd like to go into a home and have tax payers pay for it. It would only be paid for by the LA if appropriate.
We have fairly recently visited a number of homes and some of those within LA budget are absolutely disgusting - dressing hanging off, stench of urine etc. and most people say - my mum/dad is NOT going in there.
My MIL is LA funded and we found it hard to find a nice place within LA budget.

she is in a wheelchair & has very limited mobility she cant cook anything or make a cup of tea

Carers can come in up to 4 times a day and commuity meals can be delivered (they aren't great to be honest).
So nothing you've said there would necessitate a care home.
Can she bear her own weight? If so she could go to a day center for company (mght be free from LA).

So in summary.
If you can't pay then going into a home is based on NEED.
Many LA care homes are not nice.
The brief details you've given do not necessitate needing full time care.

Hope that helps.
PM me if I can help.
MIL and FIL went into nursing homes recently so I'm up on all the benefits.

Anecdote - recently FIL needed to go into a nuring home. We wanted them both (MIL & FIL) in the same place, they wanted FIL to go somewhere cheaper. We had to fight hard with both head and heart arguments to get them into the same place despite them being married for 60 years. He was bed bound and she is difficult to get into a car so they would not have seen each other very much if they were seperated.
As it happened he died 11 days into his stay but they were able to spend some last moments together in those last days as we could take her upstaris in a wheelchair.
The point of the anecdote is to point out that LA budgets are tight enough to split up long term married couples, so they won't put people in homes unless they need to there. Sending people round up to 4 times a day is cheaper.
Apart from the money - it's definitely a downward step both physically and mentally.

perfect10

My mum faced the same a few years ago - she is in a wheelchair and could not do anything for herself. my dad was her main carer but it made him very unwell and he could not continue. She went in a care home for respite when my dad was unwell but he could no longer look after her after this and so she was assessed for long term care. It was difficult as social care kept trying to make my dad look after her again at home, when he was far too ill himself and in the end I had to get a doctors report for my dad which proved he could no longer look after her, it was all very stressful for him and us as a family.



You need to identify the social worker but be warned they may try to make her stay at home and if your brother is classed as her carer then they may try to put alot of pressure (and guilt) on him to continue.

Mojisola

perfect10 wrote: »

My mum faced the same a few years ago

My Dad as well - he was a 'bed blocker' in hospital. He was assessed face-to-face by the nursing staff, the hospital social worker, the physio and the occupational therapist as needing residential care.

The funding committee, who had never seen him, decided that he could go home with four daily visits.

The doctor refused to discharge him because he said Dad would be back in A&E within days after falling if he sent home without 24/7 care.

We could see that he was deteriorating in the hospital environment and the care home we thought would suit him best were holding a room for him and we didn't want to lose it so, in the end, we had to move him to the care home as a self-funder.

When the care home assessed him and said exactly the same as everyone else, the committee relented and agreed that he needed residential care.

What was so ridiculous was that the care home was cheaper for them because they would have paid the bulk of the home carer costs while all we needed for the care home was a deferred payment scheme until his house was sold.

elsien

perfect10 wrote: »

You need to identify the social worker but be warned they may try to make her stay at home and if your brother is classed as her carer then they may try to put alot of pressure (and guilt) on him to continue.

It is entirely possible that there isn't a named social worker. Where I am the cases only stay open as long as there is active need being addressed. If someone is trundling along with the support in place then the case will be closed and re-opened/re-allocated if things change. And the annual reviews don't happen either unless somone really pushes.

As an aside, hospitals often say people need residential care when they may not - it's their default setting to get them out more quickly. Some people clearly do, but hospitals never seem identify lesser restrictive options such as housing with care as a possibility. And they prioritise physical safety over psychological wellbeing, which means that they are very risk averse.