My mum recently moved into a care home for dementia patients. A few months before, when she was living with me, we had gone through the assessment process for Continuing healthcare funding, on the advice of her community dementia nurse. She was not awarded that funding,(which covers all costs in a home), but we were informed she qualified for nursing care, which is about £158 a week. However, we were told this would only come into effect if she moved into residential care. This April she moved into care and, although the home seemed to think we might get the nursing care funding, we were again told no, because it is not a nursing home and nursing would be done by the district nurse.
And then, a week or so ago, I recieved another bundle of documents as she had been assessed again. It said we'd been receiving the nursing funding since last year. (We've not had a penny).
I know money is tight but I do feel that a dementia home needs a nurse on site. Today my mum had a fall just before I arrived to see her. I was told the district nurse would be round. However, I later discovered she couldn't make it as she was too busy. They have told me they will call a doctor as there are definite issues with her leg injuries, but it worries me that it's easy to just ignore these people as they fall asleep and forget their problems.
I have been very happy with the care home until today, but now feel I have to keep my eyes open to insist mum gets the medical care she needs.