Care Costs - How Much???!!!

Fireflyaway

My neighbour was paying £56k a year for his wifes care home. It was an average place, nothing fancy. If someone is well enough to be able to stay at home then a live in carer is definitely cheaper. could be half the price. They will do household tasks too. You can find someone via an agency so they take care of all the HR and payroll stuff or you could do it directly which would be cheaper but you would probably need some advice to ensure everything is done properly. 

Flugelhorn

there are some people who have live in carers, I have come across a few - often works well if a couple both need help, the carers tend to do 2 weeks working an living in and then swap with someone else who is there for 2 weeks.

onwards&upwards

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?

That is definitely work!  If you’re talking about an elderly person who would otherwise have to go into a care home, it will involve a lot more than you have listed here.  Not to mention the fact that you’d be looking for a person who doesn't want a life/relationship/family of their own, or any time off apparently so no desire for holidays, downtime or a social life either! 

Would you do it?

BrassicWoman

https://www.elder.org/care-guides/cost-of-care/

£750  to £1200 a week for live in, plus food allowance.

elsien

In my area 1200 a week would only be payable for someone who is loaded and is well able to pay for their own care, or for someone who has higher than average nursing needs such as behaviour that challenges.
The local authority rate for residential rather than nursing care is more like  £400 pw.

lisyloo

Mickey666 said:

Interesting points.  I guess I'm thinking of someone who is mainly just frail rather than needing specialist medical care.  Interesting comment about agency home care being equally as expensive.  I guess I'm just struggling to understand where £100k/year actually goes when all the media reports seem to suggest that carers are very low paid workers, probably minimum wage.

As for needing total care such as "toileting, washing, dressing, feeding", I reckon I'd rather top myself before I got to that stage, but I guess that's a whole other topic!

Careers can come in up to 4 times a day to get people up, dressed, washed, toileted and fed.
community meals can be arranged (although they aren’t great and same menu each week). My FIL didn’t like them but it is an option.
We arranged careers that were about £15 per hour and normally 4x 1 hour is considered a threshold when you need more permanent care.
it depends if someone is safe.
plenty of options for someone that just needs help but is safe to make decisions.
our parents had help with shopping, cooking, dressing, getting into bed, laundry, bed change etc. Before going into a care home.
certainly on the LA you won’t get funded care until you really need it.
if your self funding you can of course do what you like but if the tax payer is funding it would only be what is needed, so if someone can be kept at home then they will be.

onwards&upwards

Mickey666 said:

 I guess I'm just struggling to understand where £100k/year actually goes when all the media reports seem to suggest that carers are very low paid workers, probably minimum wage.

Yep, carers get paid peanuts, they aren’t the only costs though.  Care homes also have to pay for the fabric of the building (rent maybe, repairs, upkeep), utilities, food, laundry, specialist equipment like hoists and chairs, consumables like soap/toilet paper/cleaning products, social and enrichment activities.  Probably loads more that I haven’t thought of too, and then on top they have to make a profit because our society has decided for some reason that caring for vulnerable people is a business opportunity rather than a collective responsibility. 

3stones

Good Care and nursing homes actually offer value for money in my opinion. Say it is £1500pw for a 168 hr week that works out at £8,92ph all in. Also with homes you do receive some continuity of care to a point with regular staff, where as in some areas with carers coming in you often won't see the same one more than once every few days literally could be anyone.

Mojisola

Mickey666 said:

Once we had multi-generational homes or at least families all living close together so care needs were more shared within the family.  I know that times change but sometimes wonder if there’s a hidden price to pay for our progress.

There was a hidden price to pay in those days - women were often expected to leave work when they got married and had to rely on their husbands for money.  They had no choice but to be homemakers, child raisers and carers for the elderly family members.

3stones

Going back a few decades I think people died younger of more natural causes, suet puddings and the like did for a lot of people. I'm sure a much lower percentage of people  ever got to the age of needing specialist nursing care.