What help can my friend get

Giraffe76

Hi all,

I have a friend who has had her best friend as her carer for many years but due to personal circumstances and personal health issues her best friend had to quit leaving nobody to look after my friend. I'm unable to help because I'm a full time carer for my wife and I also live an hour's drive away down the motorway.
My friend has contacted a few carer companies but due to her health issues and other complications she was quoted £120 per hour for carers which I think is crazy for looking after someone.
She has told me that she has 2 options which she knows of which are employ the carers or go into a care home.
Does anyone know anything that she can do to prevent her from going into a care home as she's only 50.
It's probably worth saying that her joints dislocate, she passes out, has seizures and needs allergy control. she faints at any moment so needs a wheelchair to get around her house if she gets out of bed.
Shes allergic to smokers and carers can't of been around smokers either.
I hope I've explained this properly and given enough information so can be advised what is best for her and how she can go about getting care for a reasonable price rather than the extortionate price she's been quoted or whether she can Apply for grants (if anything like that exists)
Any help or advice would be most appreciated

Kind regards mark 

teddysmum

I've had some bad luck, as my husband who is/was my carer , had a stroke last week. He is coming home soon, after my tearful arguments , as various people such as physios, assumed that I would help him, such as getting in and out of bed, when I have fallen out twice this week and had to call relatives (I have an internet alarm now, which doesn't depend on old phones, which alerts one son and my sister, if I fall).The property inspectors came yesterday and, having met me, agree that I won't be expected to do anything.   However, the carer who is being sent to him will not even give me a cup of tea or heat up two meals together. Our son is trying to get me help and social services will assess me, but of course I have to pay. However, he was offered £34 an hour from a private company.

M25

Giraffe76 said:

Hi all,

I have a friend who has had her best friend as her carer for many years but due to personal circumstances and personal health issues her best friend had to quit leaving nobody to look after my friend. I'm unable to help because I'm a full time carer for my wife and I also live an hour's drive away down the motorway.
My friend has contacted a few carer companies but due to her health issues and other complications she was quoted £120 per hour for carers which I think is crazy for looking after someone.
She has told me that she has 2 options which she knows of which are employ the carers or go into a care home.
Does anyone know anything that she can do to prevent her from going into a care home as she's only 50.
It's probably worth saying that her joints dislocate, she passes out, has seizures and needs allergy control. she faints at any moment so needs a wheelchair to get around her house if she gets out of bed.
Shes allergic to smokers and carers can't of been around smokers either.
I hope I've explained this properly and given enough information so can be advised what is best for her and how she can go about getting care for a reasonable price rather than the extortionate price she's been quoted or whether she can Apply for grants (if anything like that exists)
Any help or advice would be most appreciated

Kind regards mark 

Speak to the local council and have your friend assessed for care needs.

I don't know the person's financial situation but I'm sure the council will do their best to keep them in their own home as it'll be cheaper for the council.

You'll find smelly people working in care homes too.

elsien

If these are genuine health needs and I’m not entirely convinced by an allergy to smokers) has she looked at a CHC assessment for health funding?
I wonder if the agency are possibly assessing her as needing two carers because of the risks and that is bumping up the hourly rate.
I would also suggest contacting the local authority for a needs assessment, however if she will be a self fund then they are very likely to give her a list of agencies and tell her to get on with finding one herself.
Alternatively, she could look at getting a personal assistant. But given the long list of needs that you have quoted, that will put a lot of people off. 

Spoonie_Turtle

elsien said:

If these are genuine health needs and I’m not entirely convinced by an allergy to smokers) has she looked at a CHC assessment for health funding?

You've not heard of MCAS then?  Particularly plausible since dislocations and fainting are likely to be EDS and POTS.  It can be severe enough* that someone has to mask up and use an air purifier just so their body stays on an even keel, a huge extra burden which wouldn't be necessary if the person's needs are respected in the first place by the organisation assigning the carers. 
(*MCAS reactions run the whole range of severity, including anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation.)

Giraffe76

teddysmum said:

I've had some bad luck, as my husband who is/was my carer , had a stroke last week. He is coming home soon, after my tearful arguments , as various people such as physios, assumed that I would help him, such as getting in and out of bed, when I have fallen out twice this week and had to call relatives (I have an internet alarm now, which doesn't depend on old phones, which alerts one son and my sister, if I fall).The property inspectors came yesterday and, having met me, agree that I won't be expected to do anything.   However, the carer who is being sent to him will not even give me a cup of tea or heat up two meals together. Our son is trying to get me help and social services will assess me, but of course I have to pay. However, he was offered £34 an hour from a private company.

Thanks for your reply. My friend can employ someone to be what's called her PA for 9 hours a week for cooking cleaning and personal care but 9 hours doesn't seem much time to do all that and as I said I unfortunately can't do that

KxMx

If 9 hours are all the Council will fund, can she top up those hours herself? 

Emmia

Spoonie_Turtle said:

elsien said:

If these are genuine health needs and I’m not entirely convinced by an allergy to smokers) has she looked at a CHC assessment for health funding?

You've not heard of MCAS then?  Particularly plausible since dislocations and fainting are likely to be EDS and POTS.  It can be severe enough* that someone has to mask up and use an air purifier just so their body stays on an even keel, a huge extra burden which wouldn't be necessary if the person's needs are respected in the first place by the organisation assigning the carers. 
(*MCAS reactions run the whole range of severity, including anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation.)

I think the difficulty is that it can be almost impossible to avoid smokers, if the carer looks after several people, then one or more of them might smoke or live with someone who smokes,  potentially bringing the allergen into the home of someone else.

Alternatively the carer might have to cover for another carer who is unwell themselves or on holiday, meaning that even if they're not normally exposed to cigarette smoke they could be on occasion - would the friend prefer to be told no one can visit for their care needs as a result?

Allergies can be really serious (fatal even) but I'm not sure anyone can dictate who someone else sees professionally or personally because of this.

elsien

Spoonie_Turtle said:

elsien said:

If these are genuine health needs and I’m not entirely convinced by an allergy to smokers) has she looked at a CHC assessment for health funding?

You've not heard of MCAS then?  Particularly plausible since dislocations and fainting are likely to be EDS and POTS.  It can be severe enough* that someone has to mask up and use an air purifier just so their body stays on an even keel, a huge extra burden which wouldn't be necessary if the person's needs are respected in the first place by the organisation assigning the carers. 
(*MCAS reactions run the whole range of severity, including anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation.)

My apologies - too used to people claiming food allergies when really they have an intolerance or just dislike whatever it is.

My point still stands about looking at health funding though. And if the local authority have assessed for 9 hours a week, they may be excluding health needs as not being part of their remit as otherwise this seems very low. She can also make a formal complaint to the local authority if she disagrees with their assessment. 

Albermarle

£210 per hour seems ridiculous.
We have a family member who has regular carer visits, and pays the agency £18 an hour ( SE England).
Maybe it helped that the care was arranged via the council ( they pay the family member who then pays the agency)
I can not remember all the details, but the cost per hour goes up for short visits , out of area visits, overnight, if there is more than one carer ( obviously) etc 
However I would guess the absolute maximum would be £30 per hour.

elsien

Also to add that unless she is fully self-funding, the local authority will not pay for someone who has only been assessed to need 9 hours of support a week to go into residential care.