Mum waiting in hospital for care home bed

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
My mum lived with me and my husband until she was taken to hospital with pneumonia. She made a full recovery and within 5 days was ready for discharge. Unfortunately the illness had a dramatic effect on her dimentia and we wouldn't have been able to cope with her loss of toile ting skills, especially as I work part time and she's in the care of my husband. Hospital agreed to transfer to local community hospital for some rehab to see if skills could be re learnt back to before pneumonia so she could come back to us. They've said this not going to happen and we now need to find a care home for her. We have no funds so will be LA funded. Of the only two local LA funded homes there are no vacancies and she has now been in community hospital for four weeks. She's not happy and just sits and waits all day. No activities or stimulation as its a hospital. I think that LA should pay the additional rate for a private bed in local care home until a LA bed becomes available rather than leaving her sitting in hospital. Does anyone know what my rights are in this and whether this is a reasonable request. If it is who should I make the request to, head of adult social services perhaps? Sorry this is rather rambling but thanks for any help or advice.
 

Gigglemore

Registered User
Oct 18, 2013
526
0
British Isles
Sorry to hear about your mum's decline. Have no useful info on the system but just wondered if it would be helpful for you to contact the homes direct and check where your mum is on the waiting list? If you find that she is at the top of the list your way forward might be different from if you find that there are several people ahead of her on each waiting list.

Hope something gets sorted for your mum soon.
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,064
0
Salford
It really seems odd that they'll keep her in hospital as a "bed blocker" (hate that phrase) rather then pay a few pounds more a week to keep her in a home that's over their agreed rate to a care home. I can only assume the cost of having her in one or the other comes out of different budgets or that they want to send out a message to the care home that "we never pay over our fixed price". Either way your Mum is just the ball in a game of funding Ping-Pong. It's so sad that it's all about the money but separate budgets give separate agendas, so while the NHS is currently picking up the bill then SS don't have to pay it out of their budget, Joined up thinking and spending would help but that's not the way it works, sadly.
K
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
In fact, it's not unknown for the NHS to charge LAs if they allow people who are ready for discharge to languish in hospital simply because they won't pay the going rate for a care home placement. But as family member you don't have any rights to force the LA to pay for a placement. And such a placement may cost hundreds of pounds more a week, particularly as the care home would know this wasn't a long term placement.
 

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
Sorry to hear about your mum's decline. Have no useful info on the system but just wondered if it would be helpful for you to contact the homes direct and check where your mum is on the waiting list? If you find that she is at the top of the list your way forward might be different from if you find that there are several people ahead of her on each waiting list.

Hope something gets sorted for your mum soon.

Thanks. She is at the top of the waiting list because she's 'a bed blocker'!
 

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
It really seems odd that they'll keep her in hospital as a "bed blocker" (hate that phrase) rather then pay a few pounds more a week to keep her in a home that's over their agreed rate to a care home. I can only assume the cost of having her in one or the other comes out of different budgets or that they want to send out a message to the care home that "we never pay over our fixed price". Either way your Mum is just the ball in a game of funding Ping-Pong. It's so sad that it's all about the money but separate budgets give separate agendas, so while the NHS is currently picking up the bill then SS don't have to pay it out of their budget, Joined up thinking and spending would help but that's not the way it works, sadly.
K

Thanks. You're right. Joined up thinking would be the answer.
 

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
In fact, it's not unknown for the NHS to charge LAs if they allow people who are ready for discharge to languish in hospital simply because they won't pay the going rate for a care home placement. But as family member you don't have any rights to force the LA to pay for a placement. And such a placement may cost hundreds of pounds more a week, particularly as the care home would know this wasn't a long term placement.
Thanks. I was worried that was the case. The care home do have a full rate Bed vacancy at £750 the LA have said they will fund £450 so it's not a huge difference that I think they should pay in order to get my mum out of hospital and settled in a new home and probably won't be for too long. It's not doing her any good sitting in hospital - she's very unhappy.
 

Pickles53

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
2,474
0
Radcliffe on Trent
Thanks. I was worried that was the case. The care home do have a full rate Bed vacancy at £750 the LA have said they will fund £450 so it's not a huge difference that I think they should pay in order to get my mum out of hospital and settled in a new home and probably won't be for too long. It's not doing her any good sitting in hospital - she's very unhappy.

The problem, the LA has limited funds too. Paying the extra for your mum might mean there was no funding at all for someone else equally desperately in need. Of course we all feel that money should be no object when it's our own relative who needs help, but the LA has to cope with everybody's needs.
 

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
The problem, the LA has limited funds too. Paying the extra for your mum might mean there was no funding at all for someone else equally desperately in need. Of course we all feel that money should be no object when it's our own relative who needs help, but the LA has to cope with everybody's needs.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate they have limited funds however I don't agree there's not enough money for everyone that needs it. We are a rich country - just depends on priorities. I also think it is probably costing more to keep her in hospital than it would be to move her to care home.
 

Pickles53

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
2,474
0
Radcliffe on Trent
Thanks for your reply. I appreciate they have limited funds however I don't agree there's not enough money for everyone that needs it. We are a rich country - just depends on priorities. I also think it is probably costing more to keep her in hospital than it would be to move her to care home.

You may well be right about the relative costs. My daughter and son-in-law work in the NHS and know what the 'hotel costs' of accommodation and food typically are before any medical or nursing services are included. As others have said, the fact that there are entirely separate budgets for social and health care doesn't help here; it will be interesting how the Greater Manchester experiment works as I understand the plan is to integrate the budgets there when powers are 'devolved'.

Compared to most of the world we are a rich country, but as the recent election shows, people are voting for austerity and promises of lower taxes (whether, income tax, NI or council tax) rather than better services. If the demand goes up because of our ageing population and budgets are continually cut then the services will struggle more and more to provide what is desperately needed.
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,064
0
Salford
It's the separate budgets that are the issue, within a mile from my house there are 2 road improvement projects each costing multi millions of pounds. A high speed train to London would be good and I'm sure we need more Trident missiles (well I'm not but the government is). There's no shortage of money it's all to do with how you spend it.
It might be cheaper for the LA to leave someone in hospital so the NHS picks up the bill but ultimately it's all the tax payers money being distributed by the government.
As said the 10 districts in the Manchester area are taking over the NHS budget in what's being called "DevoMancs" so all of us living in the area may see some changes and the waste of money of leaving someone in an NHS bed rather than paying over their rate to a home is hopefully one issue that will get addressed.
I do wonder if the LA won't pay the extra on principle, once they pay one care home over the odds will more homes stick it out for a higher rate?
Meanwhile we're just pawns in the game of budget Buckaroo.
K
 

Peegee

Registered User
Jan 22, 2015
17
0
It's the separate budgets that are the issue, within a mile from my house there are 2 road improvement projects each costing multi millions of pounds. A high speed train to London would be good and I'm sure we need more Trident missiles (well I'm not but the government is). There's no shortage of money it's all to do with how you spend it.
It might be cheaper for the LA to leave someone in hospital so the NHS picks up the bill but ultimately it's all the tax payers money being distributed by the government.
As said the 10 districts in the Manchester area are taking over the NHS budget in what's being called "DevoMancs" so all of us living in the area may see some changes and the waste of money of leaving someone in an NHS bed rather than paying over their rate to a home is hopefully one issue that will get addressed.
I do wonder if the LA won't pay the extra on principle, once they pay one care home over the odds will more homes stick it out for a higher rate?
Meanwhile we're just pawns in the game of budget Buckaroo.
K

I think you're right. We are pawns. But sadly its the elderly, disabled and poor who get the **** deal. I shall continue my fight with my local LA - you never know I might just make someone act like a decent human being dealing with another human being. Everyone's mum deserves to be treated with care and dignity when they are most in need. I do not accept the very tenuous argument of there not being any money. Who are they trying to kid.