Is there a guide anywhere that will give me an idea of CH costs and carers at home and what is free and what is not. Mum has over 24k savings and two pensions so I assume that care at home will have to be paid for, just trying to budget.
I wish it were that easy. Not one council in this country is the same when it comes to costs I am afraid so you'll have to contact the care homes and agencies in your area and ask. Even if she is self-funding, get an assessment from Social Services - depending on where she lives, some services may be subsidised. I live in a heavily subsidised borough in East London so unless you ask you won't know.
We've researched CH costs in Hertfordshire. Residential specialist Alzheimer's nursing care comes in at around £950 a week.
At home care varies considerably depending on hours needed. Average £10-£14 an hour daytime care.
When I was debating what the best option was for my parents I got some quotes (via SS) for 24 hour home care for comparison with CH's.
The best 24 hour care cost they gave me was £950 a week. A night-sitter (if we didn't need 24 hour care so would just add to the 4 calls a day they had) was £100 a night.
So neither of these options was much different to care home costs when all worked through.
CH's seem to have different rates for SS funded and self-funded residents. For example in Wales (where my parents were and so this relates to this area) the SS negotiated rate was £580 a week but if you were self-funding it would be £900 in the same CH. Doesn't seem fair but that is the arrangement.
Essentially all the costs are high and in our case seemed to be broadly comparable for CH vs 24 hour care at home.