Financial Misunderstanding with Care Home

father ted

Registered User
Aug 16, 2010
734
0
London
Mum has been in a care home for 18 months and has, up until now, been self funding.

The council have agreed to funding and because I did not want Mum moved I agreed to pay a top up.
The home is very good. Mum has settled well there, the staff are kind and caring.

However whilst we have transitioned from self funding to local authority funding with top up from me I have found the process quite complex as I have not been through this before. In short, in my contact with the home in person/phone and e mail the manager seems to have interpreted one e mail very negatively and sent me a very brusque bordering on rude response. The misundertanding is all around money and not care.

I have shown the care home response to me to 2 different people and they both agree that I neither stated nor inferred anything inflammatory. When I looked at my e mails today they have sent me another which is of a similar tone.

I feel upset by this. The care provided is good and I have sung their praises to my family and friends because I felt their service was so good but this whole thing, though small has tainted the experience. My friend has suggested I request a meeting with them to put things back on a good footing but I feel that if they are choosing to take a negative spin on what I say there is no point.
 

Champers

Registered User
Jan 3, 2019
239
0
If there’s been a misunderstanding, I’m all for talking in person too. The trouble with emails, texts etc is that sometimes they can come across in an abrasive or blunt manner whereas a friendly chat on the phone or across a desk and a cup of tea most things can be smoothed out. I think it’s because we lose the social interaction and facial/voice cues in a typed message! In your position I think I would have a face to face meeting, say that you’re sure that something must have got lost in translation and exactly what you’ve said here; how impressed you’ve always been with them, how happy you are with the care etc etc.
 

Jale

Registered User
Jul 9, 2018
1,140
0
I agree with Champers, ask for a meeting with management (or whoever sent the email) and try to get things sorted - always much easier than by email/text etc. It would be a shame if your Mum had to move because of a misunderstanding,

Good Luck