Dementia care home fees - London

[Kazza-72]

Find out your dads LA rate up there and then ring round all of the care homes that you are interested in and first asked them if they take LA funded residents and then if they have spaces. Tell your SW that by placing dad miles and miles from you is denying him his right to a family life, and that all the care homes local to him will not be able to meet all of his needs as YOU are one of his needs. Please fight if you want your dad nearer. I was told that people who are LA funded can go anywhere in the UK, it's all about finding a space and whether or not it falls within the LA rate. Dont take my word as gospel but don't accept what SS tell you, I had an almighty row with them last week as try wanted to place my mum in a home at the opposite end of the borough. I found a place exactly 2 miles from home but under a different LA, they told me I couldn't, other people said I could. She's now settling in to my preferred care home. Good luck and I hope you get your dad moved closer to you


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[beatrice]

Find out your dads LA rate up there and then ring round all of the care homes that you are interested in and first asked them if they take LA funded residents and then if they have spaces. Tell your SW that by placing dad miles and miles from you is denying him his right to a family life, and that all the care homes local to him will not be able to meet all of his needs as YOU are one of his needs. Please fight if you want your dad nearer. I was told that people who are LA funded can go anywhere in the UK, it's all about finding a space and whether or not it falls within the LA rate. Dont take my word as gospel but don't accept what SS tell you, I had an almighty row with them last week as try wanted to place my mum in a home at the opposite end of the borough. I found a place exactly 2 miles from home but under a different LA, they told me I couldn't, other people said I could. She's now settling in to my preferred care home. Good luck and I hope you get your dad moved closer to you


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Thank you for this. I travel up to see my dad every week at my dad's expense (we made this arrangement a long time ago, that he pays my train fare) and when he moves it's going to be even harder as the homes are on the outskirts of the city and difficult to get to if you don't try. It is exhausting travelling up every week and it certainly isn't going to be financially viable (he won't have any income as that will all go to fees bar £20 a week as far as i understand it - which certainly isn't enough to pay for train fare - i am currently unemployed).

I've seen care home fees that are £100-200 more than the LA rate in the city where he is now anyway - and as i understand it if my dad can't pay it the LA HAS to pay it - i mean, how else does he get a roof over his head??? So why put him 100 miles away from me??!

 

[Kazza-72]

Call the Alzheimer's Society for advice. Don't be bullied or pressured into agreeing to sending him to the care home they have suggested. By sending him to to an area even more difficult to get to they are denying your dads his right to a family life. Another thing is the home won't be meeting all of his needs as you are one of his needs. Apparently you can go to an ombudsman if you're not satisfied with any outcome also, but perhaps find out from CAB if this is fact


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[Rheme]

Any top up fees should be paid out of your dad's assets not yours. You should not be expected to pay this.

Is your dad eligible for CHC Funding?

 

[jenniferpa]

Any top up fees should be paid out of your dad's assets not yours. You should not be expected to pay this.

Is your dad eligible for CHC Funding?

Actually in most cases where someone is receiving LA funding, top-up fees must come from a third party, not the person in care. There are a few exceptions but I don't think they apply here.

 

[fizzie]

some people move the person in with them and for a while when they want to move area and then go for a local home - i can't remember if you said that wasn't a possible option

 

[sue38]

Just a reminder that no one on TP posts as a professional with regard to legal and financial matters. It's always wise to seek professional advice before making any decisions that could have a financial impact.

 

[theunknown]

Hi my husband's care home which is in North London costs £900 a week council pays £600 the rest comes from his pensions hope you find a,solution x

It really surprises me that a care home in London costs £900 a week, when you look at property prices, because that's the same cost for my mum's care home in Yorkshire. The LA providing some funding pays about £450 towards that, and my mum's income pays the other half. So in this case it seems you're better off going into a care home in London than in Yorkshire

 

[theunknown]

Actually in most cases where someone is receiving LA funding, top-up fees must come from a third party, not the person in care. There are a few exceptions but I don't think they apply here.

Hi jennifer. I think this thread proves just how confusing the whole issue around social care and local authority funding is. If you have a medical problem you're diagnosed, told what needs to happen/what will happen, and the NHS care is covered by yours and others NI contributions (otherwise known as taxes).

No wonder so many on here are asking for advice, when we should be able to easily access the information we need via the internet, the GP's surgery, the Social Services, etc.

Because my mum was placed on a Section 111 under the Mental Health Care Act she was entitled to ongoing funding by the LA. She wasn't entitled to any NI paid care from the NHS. I hated the LA care homes, so chose one that needed a top-up fee. I was told by the hospital's Social Services worker that they would pay their LA fee (which may be less than the one paid by the LA that the chosen care home was in). If this required a 'top-up' fee (it did) I should arrange this with the care home itself. In reality what this meant is that my husband and I paid the top-up fees ourselves until I got deputyship through the Court of Protection. Now I pay the top-up fee from my mum's bank account. I've never been told that this isn't allowed.

 

[jenniferpa]

As I said, there are exceptions and Section 117 funding (what you get after a section 3) is one of those exceptions, although it didn't used to be. But if you aren't under Section 117 funding but are being funded by the LA in the normal way, there are very few instances where self-funding of top-ups is permitted. As beatrice's mother isn't being funded by section 117 after-care, it's not possible for her to pay her own top-ups. And of course, in your case, you have the whole of your mother's pensions to pay for this top-up: most people using LA funding are already contributing all of their pensions less the personal expense allowance anyway.

 

[Spiro]

It really surprises me that a care home in London costs £900 a week, when you look at property prices, because that's the same cost for my mum's care home in Yorkshire.

It might depend on the location in London. When it comes to nursing homes, the prices range from £900 to £1600, plus extras. Even then, the nurses are paid on Band 5, which newly qualified nurses start on.