Can my gran be moved to a care home if I have LPA?

[mshaw6]

Hello all,
Just hoping for some advice. My lovely gran has been in hospital following a stroke for 6 weeks. The hospital have advised that she now needs full time care, and have recommended moving her to a home. The issue we are having is my uncle is severely disabled and they want to move her almost 2 hours away meaning he won’t be able to do his usual every other day visits.
We have found a suitable care home in the perfect location and they did have beds available, but the hospital social worker seems to be dragging her feet and wanting to send my gran further away from the family.
My question is - we have LPA, so can they move her without our consent seeing as she is now “bed blocking”?
Any advice would be amazing!!!
Thanks!
Meg

 

[Violet Jane]

Who is funding your gran's care? If it's the local authority then the choice will be limited as not all homes accept the rates that the LA pay (they are significantly less than what self-funders pay).

 

[Free2Live]

We had a similar situation in that the LPAs wanted to move Dad far away from us to isolate and limit contact for the other children and family members. We were told by the COP that we had to present a case for the alternative care home.

 

[Banjomansmate]

If your Gran is recovering from a stroke it may be that it is believed she needs more care than a local care/nursing home can provide. If your Gran has enough savings to be self funding and you find a home that can cope with her care ( they will visit to make their own assessment) then you can move her to where you want providing medics agree the care is suitable.
If, however, Gran will be dependent on Local Authority funding then you have very little choice as it will be dependent on what vacancies there are and which care homes are prepared to accept LA prices.
It should be said, that the decision on where the LA send anyone is not purely up to a Social worker but the team that arrange the placements, which in my County are put out to tender. If homes have a suitable vacancy then they “bid” for a patient.

 

[mshaw6]

Who is funding your gran's care? If it's the local authority then the choice will be limited as not all homes accept the rates that the LA pay (they are significantly less than what self-funders pay).

So we’ve found the perfect home that will accept LA pay, yet her social worker seems to think a home 10+ miles away is more appropriate than the one we as a family viewed before her stroke and is just over a mile from from current home. It just seems bizarre to me, but we are worried one day we’ll arrive on the hospital ward and she’ll be gone to a home without us knowing.

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

 

[Louise7]

Hello @mshaw6 and welcome to the Dementia Support Forum, it's good that you've found us as there is a lot of friendly advice and support here from people who understand. It's worth visiting the home that the social worker is suggesting before dismissing it out right, and you can still also flag up the home that you have found, and ask the hospital social worker to explain why they don't feel that it is suitable for your gran. Do you know if your gran is being discharged under the 'Discharge to Assess' (D2A) process, which means that she will be placed in a home for 6 weeks so that her level of needs can be assessed outside of the hospital environment. If so, the NHS fund these placements, and will place people in care homes which have designated D2A beds which can mean that they may be some distance away, depending on availability of beds. If your gran is being discharged under D2A it doesn't necessarily mean that she will stay in the care home she is initially placed in, that would depend on the outcome of the assessment to establish her level of needs, for example they will look at whether a nursing home is more appropriate for her than a care home which offers no nursing care.

A care home may seem perfect on the face of it but it's important to make sure that your Gran's needs will be fully met, and if the local authority are funding it they may know more about specific homes than perhaps is shown in on-line reviews, CQC reports etc. Also, bear in mind that even if the local authority are happy with a care home, the care home will also want to assess your gran themselves and may decide that they can't meet her needs and won't take her. It's not an easy process as there are a lot of variables involved but hopefully a suitable placement will be found for your gran soon. If you have LPA you should be involved in the discharge process and care planning process, and you may find this factsheet which explains the hospital discharge process useful.

What happens when a person with dementia is discharged from hospital?

How and when a person with dementia is discharged from hospital will depend on their circumstances. Some people with dementia will not be well enough to leave hospital and will need end of life care.

www.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[mshaw6]

Hello @mshaw6 and welcome to the Dementia Support Forum, it's good that you've found us as there is a lot of friendly advice and support here from people who understand. It's worth visiting the home that the social worker is suggesting before dismissing it out right, and you can still also flag up the home that you have found, and ask the hospital social worker to explain why they don't feel that it is suitable for your gran. Do you know if your gran is being discharged under the 'Discharge to Assess' (D2A) process, which means that she will be placed in a home for 6 weeks so that her level of needs can be assessed outside of the hospital environment. If so, the NHS fund these placements, and will place people in care homes which have designated D2A beds which can mean that they may be some distance away, depending on availability of beds. If your gran is being discharged under D2A it doesn't necessarily mean that she will stay in the care home she is initially placed in, that would depend on the outcome of the assessment to establish her level of needs, for example they will look at whether a nursing home is more appropriate for her than a care home which offers no nursing care.

A care home may seem perfect on the face of it but it's important to make sure that your Gran's needs will be fully met, and if the local authority are funding it they may know more about specific homes than perhaps is shown in on-line reviews, CQC reports etc. Also, bear in mind that even if the local authority are happy with a care home, the care home will also want to assess your gran themselves and may decide that they can't meet her needs and won't take her. It's not an easy process as there are a lot of variables involved but hopefully a suitable placement will be found for your gran soon. If you have LPA you should be involved in the discharge process and care planning process, and you may find this factsheet which explains the hospital discharge process useful.

Thank you so much! Currently the only reason the social worker has suggested so far away is because they were the only beds available, and told us to keep looking. We then found 2 beds available and accepting of LA funding and she is still dragging her feet despite agreeing it is closer and a better fit. It seems to us she just doesn’t want to start paperwork again but I could be wrong. Finger crossed they have been able to confirm one of the 2 available beds and they just haven’t notified us yet.

 

[Kevinl]

Hello and welcome. This question comes up every now and again and I often wonder how they square the decision with the Human Right Acts right to family life. A right to family life is covered by Article 8 of the 1988 act and the UK is a signatuory. Just a thought. K

 

[mshaw6]

Hello and welcome. This question comes up every now and again and I often wonder how they square the decision with the Human Right Acts right to family life. A right to family life is covered by Article 8 of the 1988 act and the UK is a signatuory. Just a thought. K

Thank you! Definitely worth a mention at our next meeting.

 

[sdmhred]

I would perhaps send an email in to the manager - politely querying what the issue now is? If the SW has said the home u have found is suitable and within price range - what is now holding back the process?

i would reiterate in writing what you have said about the other home being 2 hours away etc and K’s advice about a right to family life….