Care and Nursing Homes - what is realistic?

Glokta

Registered User
Jul 22, 2019
62
0
My Aunt went into a home for six weeks to try and get her up and mobile after staying in hospital. She was physically ill but very sharp otherwise, and although everyone in the family were appalled at how shabby the place was, she liked it. The rooms were nice, it was warm and she kept saying how lovely the food was. There was a bird table outside the window, and she made friends quickly. When we visited, she asked to be taken to her room so we could have privacy and a laugh without disturbing the others. The important things to her were the lovely meals - a cooked breakfast and puddings after dinner, how warm it was (she was always cold at home), and being able to have a bath. She didn’t want to go home!
 

Xeenies

Registered User
May 19, 2014
76
0
The LA funded beds are for people who have less than £25,000 savings and therefore become LA funded.
You are right that they get the beds at a discounted rate so the self-funders are effectively subsidising them and its a very sore point among people who are self-funded.
However, even if you are LA funded and the care home gives the LA discounted rates the care home will still not usually get enough and will charge "top-up" fees. These are additional fees that cannot be paid out of the person with dementias savings - it has to come from a third party, usually family. Most families would be hard pushed to find the top-up fees and they can increase quite dramatically as care increases, so you have to be very careful before going down this route.
The LA only has to find one care home that will accept the LA rates and not charge top-up fees for them to fulfil their legal obligation, so if your person with dementia has no savings and you cannot afford top-ups, there is very little choice
Dad is eligible for after care dual funding between LA and Health, as was on Section 3. Yes understand LA only has to find one home. I understand they will give us that rate if we choose somewhere else and top up. If a home accepts LA funding but then makes you top of 100s of pounds then really that means they don’t accept the LA rates. We will carefully scrutinise any care home the LA chooses if it’s not our choice as it has to meet Dads needs across the board. Around here everywhere’s full so they may have to fund a fully funded bed anyhow. Btw he way , what is deemed “suitable” in terms of max distance from home and family??
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,050
0
Salford
My wife's spent the last 3 and a half years in a home that takes the LA rate without a top up although it is a nursing home and she gets FNC of £155 per week on top.
I left after the evening meal yesterday about 6pm, today I went back for lunch (about 11.30am) and somewhere in between she'd been showered, had her hair blow dried and the pink nail varnish I put on at the weekend cleaned off and replaced with red nail varnish, fingers and toes.
You can spend all the money you want on fancy add ons but there's no better way to spend the money of care staff, we sometimes use agency staff or staff from other homes in the group and they can never believe how well staffed we are and how easy it is to work there.
We have several residents who've had to leave other home and all of their visitors say how much better it is where they are now, I've read CQC reports of homes then talked to relatives and there's simply no comparison, homes rated better than my wife's with not enough food, rationed sanitary products, dirty, poor care...the list goes on.
K
 

AshestoAshes

Registered User
Aug 10, 2019
14
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What has your dad's daily routine been like recently, before the hospital admission? What does he usually like doing / is he capable of doing?
 

Xeenies

Registered User
May 19, 2014
76
0
What has your dad's daily routine been like recently, before the hospital admission? What does he usually like doing / is he capable of doing?
Dad loves music, being taken out on community outings and going out for dinner but he has now got worse :(
 

Xeenies

Registered User
May 19, 2014
76
0
My wife's spent the last 3 and a half years in a home that takes the LA rate without a top up although it is a nursing home and she gets FNC of £155 per week on top.
I left after the evening meal yesterday about 6pm, today I went back for lunch (about 11.30am) and somewhere in between she'd been showered, had her hair blow dried and the pink nail varnish I put on at the weekend cleaned off and replaced with red nail varnish, fingers and toes.
You can spend all the money you want on fancy add ons but there's no better way to spend the money of care staff, we sometimes use agency staff or staff from other homes in the group and they can never believe how well staffed we are and how easy it is to work there.
We have several residents who've had to leave other home and all of their visitors say how much better it is where they are now, I've read CQC reports of homes then talked to relatives and there's simply no comparison, homes rated better than my wife's with not enough food, rationed sanitary products, dirty, poor care...the list goes on.
K
This is great information, thank you.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
Dad is eligible for after care dual funding between LA and Health, as was on Section 3
OK, this makes a big difference to funding and I dont understand all the rules after sectioning.
I hope someone who has experience will come on and advise.
 

Sirena

Registered User
Feb 27, 2018
2,324
0
What the social worker told us is that some homes have “LA funded” beds so they’re all the same except say they give some beds at a discounted rate to the LA to guarantee some business and the left over beds are uped in price to account for the LA discount (ie if a home has some LA beds but you’re fully paying, you effectively have to pay the subsidy of the LA bed).

That is probably less often the case now. My mother's CH used to accept both LA and self-funded clients, and until a few years ago the LA was the biggest client. But the LA rates are now so low they stopped accepting them, so the self-funded clients do not have to compensate for the under-funded LA clients. My mother pays £800 p.w.
 

Xeenies

Registered User
May 19, 2014
76
0
That is probably less often the case now. My mother's CH used to accept both LA and self-funded clients, and until a few years ago the LA was the biggest client. But the LA rates are now so low they stopped accepting them, so the self-funded clients do not have to compensate for the under-funded LA clients. My mother pays £800 p.w.
Hi, thanks for this. In some ways that would help as then we could take the LA rates and choose our own care home if we don’t like their choice... with a lower required top up if the self funded beds are not so expensive now? God it is a mind field!!
 

Witzend

Registered User
Aug 29, 2007
4,283
0
SW London
I well remember being appalled when first looking at care homes for FiL (many years ago now) on seeing what you describe - high backed chairs around the walls, TV on, many residents apparently dozing or just sitting.

It took rather more experience of dementia for me to realise that much of the floor area was best kept clear, for those using Zimmer frames, and to enable relatively easy cleaning - dementia sufferers can be very messy! And that residents may well not be able any longer to do much else but doze or 'just sit'.

My mother's CH (dementia only) seating areas were arranged like this, and TBH there was very soon a stage where (like several other residents) she simply didn't want to be bothered with any activities - and frankly could no longer cope with them. If she wasn't pacing, she mostly just wanted to sit in peace, often with her eyes closed, even if she wasn't actually asleep.
The CH did however organise all sorts of appropriate activities just about every day for those who could still enjoy them, even if they needed help to do so. Trips out, music/singalong sessions, crafts, musical bingo (especially designed for dementia), and a 'doing our nails' session, are just some I remember. And residents not yet past the stage of being willing and able to participate, certainly enjoyed them.
 

holidays

New member
Sep 25, 2019
1
0
Thank you for this. It all makes sense.

May I ask why you wonder if the expensive homes would take my dad?

The more expensive homes seem to be more in line with the type of environment my dad would like and are also usually more modern with quality visitor areas making it nicer for visitors to come regularly. I get it, what difference would that make to dad? But how far do we consider what dad would have liked? Do we just place him anywhere, just because he’d know no difference?

It’s so hard :(
My dad was admitted to hospital with a infection five weeks later was told he would have to go into a care homes we could not look after him at home. (self payment) we looked a several different ones and choose a middle of the road, he his very happy thinks he is somewhere else!! All I can say is that he is normally happy he docent know where he is . It is us the family who have to come to terms with what is going on. just visit as often as you can.
 

Xeenies

Registered User
May 19, 2014
76
0
My dad was admitted to hospital with a infection five weeks later was told he would have to go into a care homes we could not look after him at home. (self payment) we looked a several different ones and choose a middle of the road, he his very happy thinks he is somewhere else!! All I can say is that he is normally happy he docent know where he is . It is us the family who have to come to terms with what is going on. just visit as often as you can.
Thank you... we’d be happy for middle of the road as long as near us... so hard as they don’t have his behaviour sorted yet so homes don’t want to assess him :(