Care home Damage

[Fiona P]

Apologies, Im new to forum, posted this once but disappeared

My father, 79 yrs old now takes respite to give mum , 80 yrs old , a break - he has been at home throughout the 8 years of his dementia illness but Mum is getting tired.

He is receiving respite in a lovely, but tired, little home with a council tie-in. he goes every thre months. well that's the plan, that may change after I share with you this weeks antics..

Dad on day 3 in the home, all well when I called yesterday AM. 4 pm I received a call to say - Dad had got out , he was aggressive, was followed by two carers and brought back by the police - The shame of it! as children we were warned "never to bring the police to the door"

I spoke with him, reassured him Mum was ok, missing him and shell be there with me next week to pick him up.

Mum is his primary theme.

I called this morning to be told a greater picture, in fact he had actually broken the door and got out!

My Dad - a small, slight little Irish man built and indeed, trained to be a jockey. doesn't smoke, doesn't swear nor drinks !.. I am mortified that together with even more guilt. I cant tell mum it would destroy her.

WIll the home send a bill for damages? - am I now dealing with an ex rolling stone or the Who type rock star, who smashs up of hotel rooms?

If they charge Mum, she will find out!

Are they permitted to charge him for damages?

Such a mess

 

[LYN T]

Oh dear! I always think where did the energy and strength come from? Forget the guilt if you can; your Dad is only in respite to help your Mum. It wasn't you who put him there it was the dementia.

My Husband pulled the curtains and the rail off the wall when he was having a 'moment'I was charged £30.00 for it. I should have questioned it but I didn't-no energy left. All I can suggest is, will you be charged and if so ask the person who would send the bill to send it to you. Damage like that should be covered by the CH's contents insurance. Well done those two Carers for following your Dad.

One more thing. Please check to see if your Dad is physically ok. He may have a UTI or other infection which may have triggered this behaviour.

Take care

Lyn T X

 

[jaymor]

My husband when he first entered his nursing home on a weekly basis broke the taps on his wash hand basin and water flowed across the floor of his ensuite. Good job it is a wet room. The taps are push down but he wanted to turn them so forced them and fractured the connected copper pipe. We were never charged for the repairs and there really were dozens of repairs during this time.

 

[BeckyJan]

Hello and welcome to this Forum. I know you would prefer not to be here but glad you found us.

Firstly remember your Dad is probably not the first to cause damage - well that is if the Home are equipped for dementia (and they would not have accepted him if they are not).

I suggest you speak to the Manager and say just as you have here, that you prefer your Mum not to know as it would cause her such distress. If the Local Authority have interests in this Home then its unlikely they will charge. After all its not been done as intentional vandalism, purely through illness. IF they do please post again as others will offer great advice on how to refuse!

 

[Chemmy]

My mum had (at least!) three new carpets in her room due to stuffing things down the toilet. They were replaced without me even being told...I only found out about the earlier incidents when I remarked that mum's carpet looked new!

 

[WILLIAMR]

My step mother threw an artificial plant at a doctor when she was in hospital and broke it.
We offered to replace it but the sister said she would rather we did not as it had been thrown a few times before.
She said the plant and pot already had bits of damage on them.
A fight happened in the nursing home between my step mother and another resident and a door was damaged. Non of the staff knew what it was about or who started it.
My step mother died before it was fixed.
We agreed with the other relatives if there was a bill we would pay half each but no bill was ever received.
Going by logic if say somebody had no relatives and he / she had no money there would be nobody to pay for the damage anyway.
I would imagine the care home rates their fees knowing damage will happen.

William

 

[annii1]

Hello
My mum smashed lock on garden gate at carehome and got out, brought back by police. Matron has said my dad will be charged for damage (private carehome, I don't know if that makes a difference?). I questioned it and was told there was a 500 excess and of course we had to pay. I am rather amazed that this is the case in an establishment where the residents are vulnerable, emotional and have unpredictable behaviour, I wrongly assumed that damage would often happen and be covered by their insurance.

 

[Chemmy]

My mum was self-funding for eight years and we were never charged.

 

[Fiona P]

thank you all so much... for your responses and advise - ive had a warm reception to my first forum..

I shall let you all in on the next steps

so much for rest whilst he is in respite... mum knows nothing to date.. guess im carer to both..

best wishes

FP

 

[WILLIAMR]

Hello
My mum smashed lock on garden gate at carehome and got out, brought back by police. Matron has said my dad will be charged for damage (private carehome, I don't know if that makes a difference?). I questioned it and was told there was a 500 excess and of course we had to pay. I am rather amazed that this is the case in an establishment where the residents are vulnerable, emotional and have unpredictable behaviour, I wrongly assumed that damage would often happen and be covered by their insurance.

Hi annii1

I am not surprised the care home has a high excess as damage is a frequent occurrence.
The company I worked for had 100 vans just in the area I was in. I don't know how many vans it owned nationally.
I was surprised at first new vans were only covered third party when they were on the road but there was some better insurance in the yard but I know the excess was about 20k.
The company would have had to have written off 5 vans in a year to make insuring them comprehensive worth while.
This never happened but they were touched up about twice a year for minor damage.
Special cover applied when they were parked in the yard as there was always a chance one could catch fire with say an electrical fault and all could be burnt out as a result.

William