Care Home resident and personal expenditure

Pennylane

Spendless said:

Pennylane said:

Spendless said:

The care home manager is aware that my Mum has LPA at least for finances  because she rang her around/just before lockdown1 asking if Mum also had LPA for health or only for financial. Mum didn't have health (again she hadn't been aware. Her and Dad got lost in legal jargon when trying to set up the POA and went to a solicitor to sort it out, they did their own at the same time, but this was for finances only). The care home manager rang Mum due to wanting to know about DNR.

This is probably irrelevant but Mum told me today that until early last year care home manager had been unaware that Nan was self funding.  We live in a cheap area of the country and  I *think* the care home doesn't charge any more than the council pay. It was Mum's 2nd choice of home for Nan. Mum  was told her 1st choice was subject to third party top ups. Having read I think @Mojisola posts on this subject before, I now believe Mum was incorrectly told as there was a property to be sold, but either they told Mum wrong or weren't aware, so Nan went into Mum's 2nd choice that didn't require them. Anyway on discovering that the care home manager had not known this (about Nan paying) I query if there's a separate financial person there. Mum says yes but doesn't come across this person very often. 

Mum has said she is given a receipt for what money she hands over for Nan's spends. 

I would be very surprised indeed if your Nan was self funding and paying the same as social services pay.  last time I checked social services paid approx £575 a week for care homes and about £650 for nursing.  Whereas, people self funding would be paying £900+ per week.  Self funders subsidise others by approx £34%. 

It's not £900 per week. As I said we live in a cheap part of the country and my Mum has been paying this out of the proceeds of my Nan's property since 2015. Mum got £70K for the flat (ex council, 2 bed, own front door and garden) , which shows how cheap/deprived it is around here (Northern, ex-mining town). Think Mum has been paying £500ish weekly (around £2K permonth rings a bell with me)  until recently when the council has part funded. The money has eeked out until now as Nan has a small private pension too from my late Grandad, plus she was receiving some sort of disability benefit (Attendance Allowance maybe??) I think she became ineligible for it when the council started paying towards the care.   

Crikey, that is cheap then!  I just looked up the average cost of a care home per week in the UK and it’s £704.  I am surprised at that too because my Mum was paying nearly £900 a week and many homes I looked at were £1200+ a week.  Some parts of the country are even more expensive than that.

Spendless

Pennylane said:

Spendless said:

Pennylane said:

Spendless said:

The care home manager is aware that my Mum has LPA at least for finances  because she rang her around/just before lockdown1 asking if Mum also had LPA for health or only for financial. Mum didn't have health (again she hadn't been aware. Her and Dad got lost in legal jargon when trying to set up the POA and went to a solicitor to sort it out, they did their own at the same time, but this was for finances only). The care home manager rang Mum due to wanting to know about DNR.

This is probably irrelevant but Mum told me today that until early last year care home manager had been unaware that Nan was self funding.  We live in a cheap area of the country and  I *think* the care home doesn't charge any more than the council pay. It was Mum's 2nd choice of home for Nan. Mum  was told her 1st choice was subject to third party top ups. Having read I think @Mojisola posts on this subject before, I now believe Mum was incorrectly told as there was a property to be sold, but either they told Mum wrong or weren't aware, so Nan went into Mum's 2nd choice that didn't require them. Anyway on discovering that the care home manager had not known this (about Nan paying) I query if there's a separate financial person there. Mum says yes but doesn't come across this person very often. 

Mum has said she is given a receipt for what money she hands over for Nan's spends. 

I would be very surprised indeed if your Nan was self funding and paying the same as social services pay.  last time I checked social services paid approx £575 a week for care homes and about £650 for nursing.  Whereas, people self funding would be paying £900+ per week.  Self funders subsidise others by approx £34%. 

It's not £900 per week. As I said we live in a cheap part of the country and my Mum has been paying this out of the proceeds of my Nan's property since 2015. Mum got £70K for the flat (ex council, 2 bed, own front door and garden) , which shows how cheap/deprived it is around here (Northern, ex-mining town). Think Mum has been paying £500ish weekly (around £2K permonth rings a bell with me)  until recently when the council has part funded. The money has eeked out until now as Nan has a small private pension too from my late Grandad, plus she was receiving some sort of disability benefit (Attendance Allowance maybe??) I think she became ineligible for it when the council started paying towards the care.   

Crikey, that is cheap then!  I just looked up the average cost of a care home per week in the UK and it’s £704.  I am surprised at that too because my Mum was paying nearly £900 a week and many homes I looked at were £1200+ a week.  Some parts of the country are even more expensive than that.

Took me a while to find the info, but if a local newspaper report is correct, our council pays £492 per week. Looking on Nan's care home website I think she must have been paying £530.

Yes, I've made the point before on threads about care home fees, that figures vary round the country. That can include prices being much cheaper as well as a lot more expensive. Living in a cheaper part of the country can have advantages, but it also comes hand in hand with many negatives such as lack of jobs or mostly low paid jobs. I sent my teenager 40 miles out of area to a much more affluent city, for her sixth form years. She soon learned if she needed say some bottled water to buy at home, rather than when she  stepped off the train where it would cost 2 or 3 times more!

Still waiting to hear if my parents have visited Nan. 

tooldle

Where I am it is common to charge different rates for 'better rooms'. One of the first places i looked at for mum had four room types, each charged at a different rate. The very same home offered a program of trips, offered wine with meals etc all of which bumped up the room rate. It really is hard to compare charges. 
Where mum lives the LA funded residents have the smallest rooms with no outlook. Self funders have larger rooms with views. Mum is extra lucky in that her room has a separate sitting space. Mum is in residential care at a charge of just over £760 per month.