Dementia Home needing guarantees

[BeckyJan]

A friend of mine has a husband who has spent time in emergency Respite and now in an Assessment Unit. It has been recommended that his wife should consider an EMI Nursing Home for him as he has considerable behavioural problems.

She has been smart in finding potential Homes and found one which sounds superb. At the end of the visit it was made clear that to go on the waiting list they would do a financial assessment. This was to make sure that there was sufficient private funding for at a minimum of 3 years.

Has any member of TP come across this before?

[Helen33]

Hi Jan,

I've not much experience but I have not heard of this. It seems to be a very disturbing time for people generally with changes that are happening but nothing being very clear.

Love

[DeborahBlythe]

I've not heard of that Jan, I wonder if it is because the home knows the Local Authority won't pick up the tab if the cash runs out.

What would the home do if the person dies before three years have passed? Hope they aren't asking for three years payment in advance.

Actually it doesn't make sense really unless they are asking for advance payment, because what you own today you may blow on the pools tomorrow.

[Saffie]

I haven't come across this as such but I originally looked at a nursing home 5 minutes walk away from me. After my husband had been assessed by them, they rang me to ask what would happen if he was refused the CHC for which we had aleady applied - would SS be involved at any time. I replied that as their fees were £1000 plus a week, I would imagine that they would be eventually. I never heard from them again. The home is one of a number belonging to a well-known health care company.

[jenniferpa]

Didn't Craig indicate that this was the case with his father? I think, though, that had at least something to do with the fact that he was moving from one LA to another and in his case I vaguely (but perhaps not accurately) think it was 2 years.

In a way I'm not surprised if the situation is as follows: if after the three years are up they will accept LA funding and not ask for the person to be removed.

[PurpleJay]

I came across something similar when I put mums name down at one care home. It cost more than the local authority rate and they wanted to know if mum had the funds for the next 3 years. If the money ran out after that period, she would be able to stay at the local authority rate - ie be funded by the local authority without any top ups being paid by family or god forbid her being asked to leave and find somewhere cheaper. The private rate was about £300 per week more than the LA rate but it was an excellent home with very good ratios of staff to residents and a fantastic approach to dementia. They had so many LA places and so many private places. When the money ran out you just move to the other list. It didn't seem an unreasonable way to make sure they could balance the books.

Don't be afraid to seek clarification from the home.

Jane x