My Gran and her care situation

[iainworgan]

Hello all

I am really after some advice regarding my partners Gran (who i call Gran also) shes been diagnosed with Alzheimer's over a year ago. Gran is 86 used to live on her own, she is also registered blind (partly sited) Gran has been on her own for years, and was doing well with regular carers going in 3 times a day to make sure she was eating and to give her, her medications. Unfortunately over the last few months she stopped eating and become very depressed and down. a month or so a go she has a nervous breakdown said she didn't want to be here anymore and she wanted to die (all part of the depression she was suffering from, and very upsetting for us) now she didnt want to be on her own from then and, and didnt feel safe, so we got in touch with social services for emergency rest bite, which we managed to find for the next day which was great news. While at the residential home Gran was assessed and told she needed 24/7 care and we were asked to top up a monthly amount of £150 which Gran could afford from her pension small amount of savings and so on. which we were fine with after this Gran become a permanent resident and the home asked that we top up £180 a month (from her family) as her income will be going straight into pay for the place. This would be a stuggle but if her family clubbed together, we could do it. now we have been asked to top up the rest bite by a further £62 a week on top of the £150 Gran has to pay and instead of the £180 a month we agreed to pay we will have to pay £62 a week. Unfortunately none of us are in the position to pay this but the last thing we want is for Gran to be moved and she has settled very well likes being there. We are also worried as this isnt a particularly "posh" place so if we cant afford this i don't think there is much we can?

My question is where do we go from here? what can we do? who can we ask? its very hard getting information and we are just worried for Gran.

PS i would also like to point out where she is now is 5 minutes down the road from her Daughter and Grandchildren where she used to live was 30-40 minutes away. so its much better for her and everyone involved.

 

[Pickles53]

I'm assuming that Gran has less than £14,000 is savings, is being wholly funded by SS and they are taking her state pension and any other private pensions and leaving her with the approx £25 a week for 'pocket money'.

SS should be able to provide you with a list of CHs that will meet her needs, and that don't require a top-up from the family. If there is no such place, then they should fully fund her somewhere else.

If there are other CHs that will meet her needs, but you choose for her to remain where she is, then I'm afraid that you and the family will have to find the top-up.

Just adding the link to a previous post on this topic as it has the specific Care Act Guidance which you can refer to when speaking to SS/LA. Hope this works!

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/show...-about-losing-ones-home&p=1181699#post1181699

 

[iainworgan]

I'm assuming that Gran has less than £14,000 is savings, is being wholly funded by SS and they are taking her state pension and any other private pensions and leaving her with the approx £25 a week for 'pocket money'.

SS should be able to provide you with a list of CHs that will meet her needs, and that don't require a top-up from the family. If there is no such place, then they should fully fund her somewhere else.

If there are other CHs that will meet her needs, but you choose for her to remain where she is, then I'm afraid that you and the family will have to find the top-up.

Would that mean they could offer her a place in a Home that could be many many miles away from us and we would have to accept it?

 

[cragmaid]

Has Gran applied for the higher rate Attendance Allowance....£80 plus per week tax free.

 

[Pickles53]

Would that mean they could offer her a place in a Home that could be many many miles away from us and we would have to accept it?

Not necessarily. It should be part of anyone's assessed needs that they are able to see their close family and friends, so you can argue that the home needs to be reasonably accessible to allow regular visits.

 

[iainworgan]

Has Gran applied for the higher rate Attendance Allowance....£80 plus per week tax free.

ive been told that the Attendance allowance isnt taken into consideration by the home, is this correct or should it be? if is taken into consideration does she loose anything else?

Thanks for your reply

 

[iainworgan]

Not necessarily. It should be part of anyone's assessed needs that they are able to see their close family and friends, so you can argue that the home needs to be reasonably accessible to allow regular visits.

Thank you thats very good to know. thanks again for your response

 

[iainworgan]

I'm assuming that Gran has less than £14,000 is savings, is being wholly funded by SS and they are taking her state pension and any other private pensions and leaving her with the approx £25 a week for 'pocket money'.

SS should be able to provide you with a list of CHs that will meet her needs, and that don't require a top-up from the family. If there is no such place, then they should fully fund her somewhere else.

If there are other CHs that will meet her needs, but you choose for her to remain where she is, then I'm afraid that you and the family will have to find the top-up.

Yes Gran has no savings. and thats correct they will be doing all that. the issue is she is still on rest bite care for the time being, before she is made permanent, and its the fees that are worrying us as they have changed 3 times since we first had out meeting. we also seem to be getting no help the our Case Worker and she just in the mind set of "if you cant afford it you will have to find her somewhere else" which isnt what i was expecting from someone who i thought would be helping is.

 

[iainworgan]

I'm assuming that Gran has less than £14,000 is savings, is being wholly funded by SS and they are taking her state pension and any other private pensions and leaving her with the approx £25 a week for 'pocket money'.

SS should be able to provide you with a list of CHs that will meet her needs, and that don't require a top-up from the family. If there is no such place, then they should fully fund her somewhere else.

If there are other CHs that will meet her needs, but you choose for her to remain where she is, then I'm afraid that you and the family will have to find the top-up.

So they take their private pension as well?

 

[canary]

So they take their private pension as well?

If they are single, yes they take the private pension, state pension and attendance allowance (except for "pocket money"). If they are married/civil partnership then they take half of the private pension (as well as state pension and AA).
Normally this doesnt make up anywhere near the cost of a CH, so if there are no savings the LA pays the rest up to a pre-determined amount. If the cost of that particular CH is more then the family is asked for the top-up. It is slightly flexible and if there is nowhere suitable close by, it is possible that you might get extra help on the grounds that your Gran needs family to visit her. You would have to argue quite strongly and still may not get it, though.
Dont get too wound up about it now though. Why not wait and see where they suggest?

 

[iainworgan]

If they are single, yes they take the private pension, state pension and attendance allowance (except for "pocket money"). If they are married/civil partnership then they take half of the private pension (as well as state pension and AA).
Normally this doesnt make up anywhere near the cost of a CH, so if there are no savings the LA pays the rest up to a pre-determined amount. If the cost of that particular CH is more then the family is asked for the top-up. It is slightly flexible and if there is nowhere suitable close by, it is possible that you might get extra help on the grounds that your Gran needs family to visit her. You would have to argue quite strongly and still may not get it, though.
Dont get too wound up about it now though. Why not wait and see where they suggest?

Hi thanks for your reply, and clarifying what they will take from her. I was struggling to understand. im am only wound up for the fact that the LA will pay a set amount but that amount is reduced by the amount that Gran puts in. which to be baffles me. the more gran puts in the less the LA does which its counter productive in my head. but if thats the case thats the case.

The 2 they have suggested are over an hour away for me an Grans granddaughter and half an hour away from her daughter.

 

[Pickles53]

Hi thanks for your reply, and clarifying what they will take from her. I was struggling to understand. im am only wound up for the fact that the LA will pay a set amount but that amount is reduced by the amount that Gran puts in. which to be baffles me. the more gran puts in the less the LA does which its counter productive in my head. but if thats the case thats the case.

The 2 they have suggested are over an hour away for me an Grans granddaughter and half an hour away from her daughter.

Under the new Care Act the LA will allocate a 'personal budget' for an individual's care needs. Strictly speaking, there should not be a standard LA amount but that seems to be how most LAs still see it. I look at it this way. Your Gran is using her own money to pay her ongoing living and care costs; the LA budget allocation provides additional support if her own funds are not enough to meet those needs.

In terms of the distance to travel for visits, I would think 30 minutes travel time would not be considered unreasonable unless public transport is very scarce in your area or visitors have disabilities which make travel difficult. How would that compare with travel time for other work or leisure reasons or to access other public services for instance? If the home is a good one in every other way I'd think hard before turning it down.

An hour does sound a lot harder, but does the geography of where you all live mean that a home nearer to you is automatically further away for someone else?

Have you done any research yourself into possible places? Might be an idea to be forewarned, though I know what you really want us for Gran to stay put.