Care home placement terminated without notice. Still want payment.

[Givemestrength]

I received an out of the blue message from my dads care home and without any prior communication on any deterioration of his health whatsoever they advised he had had a fall was uninjured and had been sent to hospital. Furthermore they advised that he was being ‘refused entry’ back and that the hospital would have to find somewhere else. He is still in hospital many weeks later and the care home want to be paid for the time he was there. They have now changed the goal posts and said they in fact made this decision 4 weeks later. They have also said they will charge me for storage if I don’t pick up his stuff. I am absolutely aghast by some of the behaviour in the aged care sector. My dad did not even want to go into care I consider him bullied into it actually but that is another story.

 

[2ndAlto]

Hello @Givemestrength (something I repeat several times a day) - I can't believe your Dad's care home can act in that awful way. I'm not in the UK so I have no idea if there is any redress available - I don't suppose there is an Aged Care (or Dementia) or Care Home Ombudsman is there? Your situation sounds wrong on so many levels, I hope you can find legal (and moral) help for your Dad.

 

[canary]

Hello @Givemestrength and welcome to the forum

Im sorry that your dads care home didnt communicate to you that there were problems with meeting his needs. However, when someone is admitted to hospital the hospital has to check with the care home that they will accept them back and the care home has the right to refuse. It is a ploy that quite a few care homes use, but there is usually communication to the relatives that they cannot meet that residents needs first and it is usually used as a last resort.

Re them asking you to pay, all the while that his possessions are in the room they cannot use it for someone else, so it sounds like it has been weeks and his possessions are still there. When mum died I was asked to clear her room within a week.

 

[Chaplin]

Please contact https://www.carerightsuk.org/

They have a helpline and will be able to give you advise. Good luck.

 

[Dave63]

Hi @Givemestrength, when mums first care home found her behaviour too challenging to deal with they called a best interests meeting to discuss it with myself and the mental health team. It was emphasised during that meeting that if mum had to be admitted to hospital that they wouldn't be in a position to accept her back. I thought it was harsh at the time but with hind sight it was the correct thing to do. The difference for us was they gave us plenty of notice, were very clear in their reasons why and never pressured us to find somewhere else quickly. If they feel they're not in a position to provide the care your dad needs then it's in his best interests for them to say so, but it sounds like they could have better handled the situation and given clear and concise reasoning for not accepting him back. As for the charging of fees whilst he is in hospital that is a pretty normal thing for homes to do.

Alzheimers site has a fact sheet which may be helpful.

Evicted from a care home: What to do if a person with dementia is asked to leave

The things you need to consider when a care home asks a resident who has dementia to find somewhere else to live.

www.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[Rayreadynow]

I received an out of the blue message from my dads care home and without any prior communication on any deterioration of his health whatsoever they advised he had had a fall was uninjured and had been sent to hospital. Furthermore they advised that he was being ‘refused entry’ back and that the hospital would have to find somewhere else. He is still in hospital many weeks later and the care home want to be paid for the time he was there. They have now changed the goal posts and said they in fact made this decision 4 weeks later. They have also said they will charge me for storage if I don’t pick up his stuff. I am absolutely aghast by some of the behaviour in the aged care sector. My dad did not even want to go into care I consider him bullied into it actually but that is another story.

Dont be aghast ....its a business. But I think it needs an explanation as to why they wont accept him back.

 

[Jessbow]

Bit of a cleft stick situation.
While his stuff is in his room, they cannot relet it.
He's not there so you dont want to pay for the room BUT they are then losing income.
Harsh as it is, they are business and probably have a waiting list- how long has he been in hospital?

 

[Portugal1000]

My mums second care home served notice on me the day before I was due to go on a once in a lifetime six week road trip to Italy. I thought they called me in to office just to talk about whilst I was away. I was flabbergasted but told them to knock them selves out and they’d have to find a home because I certainly wasn’t cancelling a £20k trip. There had been no deterioration in health and they then claimed she had slapped a carer. I was mortified about that and I asked who so I could send them flowers. They wouldn’t tell me so I said ok just let me know which days on shift and I would send them and they could give them. They refused so immediately thought something fishy. Came to conclusion they just wanted nice obedient lady to take my mums room. My mum is self funding and given how much she’d spent there I was pretty furious. Anyway I went on trip and they’d send me details of homes and ask we to do virtual tours. I stood my ground and sorted it when I got home. It was a rude awakening so nothing would surprise me anymore.
It turned out ok and new place was much nicer but of course even more expensive. Over £7k a month.
Money will run out end of this year by which time she will have been in care home for 5 years and I just don’t have it in me to find a new home if this one won’t accept a deal from local authority. Whole thing is so stressful.

 

[SAP]

My mums first home refused to have her back from hospital but there was plenty of evidence that she had become too aggressive for them to manage. Mum had to pay for the weeks that she was in hospital and whilst waiting for a new home. I got social services involved to ensure a placement was found that was suitable. Like others have said, this is the business side of caring, some homes manage it better than others. Nobody tells you this can happen when you first start looking for care and it comes as a huge blow.