Care Costs - How Much???!!!

Mickey666

no longer relevant

noclaf

Unfortunately this is how it is now especially as many 'residential' homes have been shut down to cut costs. The nursing homes especially are usually charging in the region of £800-£2000 per week depending on the level of care someone receives and yes the figures are eye watering. In-house care is done and something I do for one parent but have carers coming in daily. Other parent is in a nursing home. Home care sounds great but I can tell you from firsthand experience is not easy. 

onwards&upwards

Will the live in carer be working 24 hours a day?  

lisyloo

My MIL (for whom I'm deputy) is paying £925 per week residential (plus £160 funded nursing care which she doesn't pay).

That is an average home in Bristol i.e. there are cheaper ones (which are dreadful) and more expensive ones that are lovely.

Homes in London and the SE are more expensive and up north they are cheaper.

My MIL requires assistance of 2 carers as do many immobile people who are being hoisted and sometimes those with a zimmer.

The bathroom in the homes are huge for a wheelchair, hoist, client plus 2 carers to get in.

Also one carer simply cannot work 24/7 and the homes do have staff on at night (sometimes not sleeping).

I guess it depends on the persons needs but assistance of 2 is a major issue.

The advantage of having nursing care 24/7 is that simply issues (like UTIs) can be picked up and treated immediately so this may be in the client's best interests even if they aren't sick? Immobility and incontinence are issues that can make frail people sick e.g. UTIs, so they don't need to have acute conditions to qualify for nursing care.

Obviously circumstances may vary, but there are advantages to being in home with entertainment, activities, trips and facilites e.g. dining room, if able to enjoy them.

lisyloo

Also note that you can buy an annuity to fix costs.

For example for my MIL this would have been approx £100K female at age 91 (it's indivdually medically underwritten).

This means you pay a fixed fee to get care forever. Obviously insurance comapnies aren't charities so it's biased towards profit as with any insurance, but it's an option to reduce the risk (at a cost of course).

We didn't go for it because we though my MIL would not live that long (she's currently proving us wrong) but such a financial product MAY suit some people.

74jax

Mickey666 said:

onwards&upwards said:

Will the live in carer be working 24 hours a day?  

Presumably, but not in the conventional way.  I'm thinking old-fashioned 'housekeeper', doing what's needed to run the house as if it were their own home.  Indeed the house would also be their home as well so it's not like a typical 'job'.  When they cook a meal they cook for two instead of just themselves - is that 'work' in the conventional sense?  It's more like house sharing but with one party doing all the housework and getting paid for it, as well as living rent-free.  A typical care home worker goes to work for 8 hours but also has a home of their own to run, own meals to cook, own washing to do, own cleaning to do, etc etc.  How much extra effort is there in cooking for two rather than one?  Or having a full load of washing rather than a half load?

If they need to be in a home will the housekeeper take them to the toilet, wipe them, dress them, wash them, cut their nails, clean their teeth, feed them, give medicine etc.
What you are explaining is minimum help that I don't understand why the person would need to be in a full time carehome? 
My mam is in a home 3 days a week and has a carer the other 4. I wouldn't do the carers job for love nor money.... And it's my mother... 

Mojisola

Mickey666 said:

A friend's mother has recently had to move into a care home.  very sad but all too common etc etc.  But what has astounded me is that it is costing £1200/week!. 

it must surely be cheaper to employ a full-time home carer.  Indeed, many retired people have spare bedrooms in their homes so why not even a live-in carer? 

For most people, the problem with a live-in carer is paying for them.  Many people in residential care are funding the cost by selling their house.  If they are going to stay in the house, where do they find the money to pay their carer?

There are companies who arrange for live-in carers - I looked into them for my parents - but they are very expensive.

LilElvis

Mojisola said:

Mickey666 said:

A friend's mother has recently had to move into a care home.  very sad but all too common etc etc.  But what has astounded me is that it is costing £1200/week!. 

it must surely be cheaper to employ a full-time home carer.  Indeed, many retired people have spare bedrooms in their homes so why not even a live-in carer? 

For most people, the problem with a live-in carer is paying for them.  Many people in residential care are funding the cost by selling their house.  If they are going to stay in the house, where do they find the money to pay their carer?

There are companies who arrange for live-in carers - I looked into them for my parents - but they are very expensive.

This is very true. One of my MIL's neighbours had a live in carer for a number of years, but he eventually went into a nursing home when his medical needs became more complex and his mental faculties were declining. I enquired about 24 hour care from the agency the neighbour used and found the cost to be pretty close to that of a nursing home. We've personally signed guarantor forms for the nursing home my MIL had chosen for when she feels she can no longer cope at home and that was for £237,000 to cover the lowest level of care for 4 years, though the costs can rise to £7,400 per month for dementia care. Fortunately my MIL's flat and her income would more than cover her for every eventuality so we needn't worry about being asked to cover the costs.

lisyloo

They could do equity release but there is a cost to that.
if you are in a care home you have no bills once you’ve sold your house
the description of cooking/cleaning (which could be done by cook/cleaner) is very different to people doing hoisting, toileting, washing, dressing, feeding, taking responsibility for medication etc.
some people are not safe to be left on their own at all
a live in carer is an option for someone who might recover from an illness but sometimes people get to an age or have a condition where they will not improve.
it might be an option for someone with a mentally capable partner who can take responsibility but is not able to do all the jobs, but you’d still need the money outside of property

BrassicWoman

Mickey666 said:

£2000 per week??!!  £100k+ per year!!!  How many care nurses could be employed for that sort of money?

Four low paid ones, which is less than you need for  24/7 care when you include weekends and holidays. And that's before rental for the room, food, etc. Assuming you are happy with the lower end of the wage market looking after your loved one.

BrassicWoman

Mickey666 said:

Presumably, but not in the conventional way.  I'm thinking old-fashioned 'housekeeper', doing what's needed to run the house as if it were their own home.  Indeed the house would also be their home as well so it's not like a typical 'job'.  When they cook a meal they cook for two instead of just themselves - is that 'work' in the conventional sense?  It's more like house sharing but with one party doing all the housework and getting paid for it, as well as living rent-free. 

Or, having no freedom to come and go as they please, decorate anything, and being trapped with someone perhaps rambling and incontinent. Lovely. 
There are schemes where fit older people exchange rooms for housekeeping, but they don't need anything like nursing/ residential care.
No one will be queuing up for the deal you propose for the seriously ill; or, no one you want looking after your loved ones.
Would you do it? It seems like an option for you, if you think it's that great!
Care is one of the most undervalued jobs in the country. We expect mainly women to give up huge chunks of their life to do it for relatives, for pennies or nothing, with no support. It sucks.
Care costs should reflect the efforts and skill of the people who do it. i.e. not cheap! Object to the spend? Do it yourself!