Cost of Live In care

[Mo_N]

Mum had a fall indoors & fractured her wrist a couple of weeks ago. Probably caused by an undiagnosed UTI. I stayed with her for a few days & arranged emergency overnight care for a few nights which cost a fortune!

It's apparent that Mum can't continue living on her own much longer but she's adamant that she wants to stay in her home of 57years. I've talked to an agency that I've heard good reports of & have just been given a quote of £710 per week for 24/7 live in care. (Carer will have 2 hours off each day which is fine as Mum can be left)

I haven't any experience of paying for care as the hospital organised the care package she currently has. We are waiting for a social worker to come to do a review to assess what the LA will pay toward a new package but goodness only knows when that will be. I don't think we can wait for this & will suspend the current care if a live -in carer can be found quickly.

Is £710 per week reasonable??
If we start paying the full amount before the new assessment will the local authority refuse to contribute?

Sorry for the long post - I'm confused & depressed tonight.

Mo
x

 

[Izzy]

Oh I want to help but I can't. I think it doesn't sound unreasonable but that is not based on any kind of experience at all. I will be interested in replies from those with more knowledge on the subject though.

Sorry you're feeling so down. Take care. xx

 

[Helen33]

Dear Mo,

I can't help much I'm afraid but I just wanted to reach out and say hello and sorry that you're feeling depressed.

I have little to no experience of costings apart from what happened here and it does seem reasonable for 24/7 care. I wonder whether you have considered the logistics of it all. You will need several carers because of holidays and sickness and because of the shifts. Will you be employing them privately or will you be using an agency??

If you require carers 24/7 urgently then you could think about a short-term contract until SS can get your case assessed and to panel.

Hope you find the information that you need.

Love

 

[Mo_N]

Thanks Izzy. Just knowing you care helps.

Mo
x

 

[Helen33]

Dear Mo,

You posted at the same time as me and therefore you might not have seen my post to you.

Love x

 

[Mo_N]

Hi Helen,

We'll be using an agency that deals with all the tax, nat ins etc. They also provide guaranteed cover for the carer's holidays, sickness etc.

At the moment mum can manage most things but needs prompting to do them. It's companionship as much as anything that the carer will provide.

Mo
x

 

[Mo_N]

temp live in till New Year ??

Agency don't think they have a long term carer till January but may have someone who can do now till 5th Jan.

Don't know whether to go for this or just muddle through with the current 4 x daily package & loads of phone calls from Mum when she is on her own.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank You.

Mo
x

Hope the weather is easing where you are.

 

[Pheath]

Hi Mo

Sorry to hear you're going through such a hard time at present. I attend a carer's group and we were discussing just this subject recently. Going through an agency does cost a fortune and I think the quote you had is pretty accurate although might vary depending on what part of the country you are in. A couple of people in my group have live in carers for their spouse/ parent and have found them privately, either through advertising or recommendations. What they pay per week seemed to vary between £180 - £350 and guess also depends on how much you are asking them to do, hours, type of accommodation etc. It would be your responsbility to pay tax, NI but this seems only to be about £40 a week & guess you could get further info from the Inland Revenue. Of course doing it this way is a little more fraught as you need to be ultra careful - references, CRB check etc. but it could save a lot in the long run although you still have to factor in higher electricity, gas bills. Hope this helps a bit, we might have to go down this route at some point ourselves, it's a bit cheaper than a home at least but realise still very expensive all the same. By the way I'm in London.

Best of luck. Pam

 

[susana53]

Gosh, it's such a lot of money isn't it! I was just thinking the same as Pam, the overall household bills also have to be paid as usual, plus they may be higher with an extra person in the house. I hope you can get something sorted to suit your requirements.

 

[Pacucho]

Cost of live-in care & LA funding

Mo

I have just read your thread.

I care for my mum and need a live-in carer to help me do this, and from experience this is about an average figure plus the agency fee.

As regards LA funding I am in the process of applying for Direct Payments on behalf off my mum to contribute towards these costs. Social Services will do an assessment of your mum's needs and her financial circumstances, and if she meets the criteria they will contribute. But there is a lot of work involved in doing this.
Hope this helps

Paco

 

[DeborahBlythe]

Dear Mo, I don't think that figure is out of the ordinary, possibly slightly lower than I have heard of for someone in a similar situation.
If it can be afforded, I would tend to grab the carer who is available now until Jan 5th. It will take a load off your mind and you can sort out all the other things with a lighter heart and more time to cope.
If that carer is a success you may want to use her/him again and you might at some future date come to a private arrangement with them.
Have you checked other care agencies out? Did you know you can research care agencies in your area through the CQC website (Care Quality Commission) http://www.cqc.org.uk/findcareservices.cfm

Individuals carers also advertise here.http://www.lady.co.uk/lady_classifieds/category/Situations Wanted

Kind regards

 

[Mo_N]

Thank you all

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I don't know what I'd do without you all.

Pam & Susannah. I did think about trying to find a carer myself as it would save on agency fees but I don't think I have the mental energy to cope with CRB checks, tax & insurance at the moment. I think I'll probably use the agecy to see whether live-in care works & think about using Deborah's link to The Lady in a few months time.

Paco, did you use an agency to find your mum's live-in carer? If so could you send me a pm with the details. I'd rather go with recomendation than just choose from an advert.

Deborah, Thank you for the links. Really useful.

Mo
x

 

[Resigned]

Dear Mo_N

We had live in carers for my mother from a well known agency and paid £700pw so yes, that's about the usual amount. While you're thinking about going down this route, don't forget that there are all the usual bills to be paid as well so its not a cheap option.

My mother would have been adamant she stayed in her own home too but unfortunately, after about 6 months, she didn't recognise it any more and was desperately trying to escape. She's now in full time care and a lot less agitated.

good luck
R

 

[Resigned]

I meant to add that the carers didn't tend to stay much longer than 8 weeks so there will be quite a lot of changeovers which we found very upsetting for my mother.

R

 

[alexp]

We had a live-in carer for my aunt for more than a year from December 2008. I think it might be the same one you are thinking of using. We paid just under £700 per week at that time but my aunt is quite comfortably off so it wasn't a problem.

We were happy that the agency took care of everything and we were promised they would never leave my aunt without a carer. Her main carer was a lovely lady who went home for a fortnight every 6 weeks but was with us for over a year.

It worked very well until my aunt started to become very anxious at night and the carer was hardly getting any sleep.

Let me know if I can help you with any more information.

alexp

 

[longacre]

We had 24/7 carers for my mother and the cost was almost exactly what you mention. We then also had pop-in carers for the two hours off per day. The issue for us was that my mother was very exhausting to look after and the carers didn't usually stay more than 2/3 weeks and sometimes we had changeovers every week. Change over days were really tricky but do pm me if you want any more info. You may well have a less tricky situation.

We did this for seven months until we were pretty much on our knees (my mother is about two hours away from our main homes and it was pretty tiring doing up and down constantly when working full-time with families etc.) Getting the right carer was always a real stress. My mother is recently in a care home and whilst there are different worries and guilt, it is definitely the right place.

We had her for lunch today and while my sister was walking her back to her home which is very close she asked where I was and when she was going to see me......the joys of Alzheimers.

 

[cirencester]

Please advise re cost of not your typical live in care

Could someone advise an approximate cost for a carer for a 50 year old lady diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in Mayfair area, London? She lives with her aunt who needs assistance. They are not looking for the typical carer. They want a live in, 2 to 3 days off per week, someone who has an undergraduate degree or higher. They would like her to fit in with their circle of friends, so someone who dresses well. Someone who can take the patient on walks, talk to her, go to the museum, go riding, to plays, to the hairdresser. Patient needs help with dressing, grooming, eating. She talks almost nonstop. The housekeeper would cook. They like to entertain so she needs to fit in socially. She would occasionally travel with them to their home in Greece. What would the salary be expected to be?

 

[jenniferpa]

Cirencester - I can't even begin to imagine. I have to believe that with these specific requirements you'd have to use an employment agency , which inevitably makes it more expensive.

 

[FifiMo]

Mo,

As a comparison, my mother's nursing home costs £800/wk. I think the main argument you'll get from social services is that it would cost THEM a lot less if they were in a home - yet another comparison - the social services care figure is £551/week. I think you might have to play some tactical games with them and I do wonder if your best approach would be to ask to go on to direct payments? That way they credit the account with the amount that they would have paid and you would then have to make up the shortfall.

Hope you get it sorted out one way or another soon.

Fiona

 

[Onlyme]

Could someone advise an approximate cost for a carer for a 50 year old lady diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in Mayfair area, London? She lives with her aunt who needs assistance. They are not looking for the typical carer. They want a live in, 2 to 3 days off per week, someone who has an undergraduate degree or higher. They would like her to fit in with their circle of friends, so someone who dresses well. Someone who can take the patient on walks, talk to her, go to the museum, go riding, to plays, to the hairdresser. Patient needs help with dressing, grooming, eating. She talks almost nonstop. The housekeeper would cook. They like to entertain so she needs to fit in socially. She would occasionally travel with them to their home in Greece. What would the salary be expected to be?

It would easier to find two people, one to do the physical caring and another to stimulate and act as a companion. I think they will be hard pressed to find all those qualities in one person who would be willing to take on dressing etc. as that task will eventually lead to more physical needs.