Discharge from hospital into a residential placement

[Quantock]

my father in law is medically fit for discharge from hospital after a fall. He won't be coming home but instead going into a care home. He is not self funding but making a contribution. The local council adult care team have found him a place in one care home which we will be visiting to see what it is like. There are 2 others that are council funded, do we have to take the place offered or can we wait and see if a room becomes available at the others if we think they are better? My mother in law is being extremely pressured to make a rushed decision before even seeing any care homes.

Thanks

 

[Louise7]

From experience I think the reality is that they'll want to get your father in law out of hospital asap rather than wait for a space to come up elsewhere (which could take weeks). Providing that the home says that they can meet his needs it will be difficult to refuse it unless there are some good reasons why it isn't suitable. If you do refuse it without good reason you may find that you are then left to find another placement yourself, which is not easy to do when you aren't self-funding. Keep an open mind when you go to view as it's the standard/level of care that's important rather than the decor.

 

[Kevinl]

Why not go and look now? Standard practice is you turn up unannounced and they show you round there and then. I viewed about 12 homes and all showed me round straight away except two, one was in the middle of a staff meeting and asked me to come back in an hour the other had a policy of not showing people round during meal times, so again come back in an hour.
You don't have to wait for a room to become available before you look round they can put you on a waiting list if there isn't one. We've had a few residents "parked" in the home while they waited for a place nearer their family, a faith based home or just somewhere the family preferred.
If the LA have found him a place then you may have to take that short term at least, you can give an NHS bed to someone who doesn't need it.
After you've visited all 3 you might decide the one the LA have picked is the best so end of problem.
Homes that take LA funding often have a longer waiting period as social services will queue jump if they have an urgent placement ahead of anyone on the waiting list, but that may be how they've managed to get this place for your dad.
Just visit all 3 you could do that in a morning, but if the other 2 don't have places then I think it's best to take the place available at least for now and give the NHS bed to someone who needs it.
K

 

[Quantock]

Thank you louise7 and Kevinl appreciate your good advice.

 

[Babymare01]

The hospital wanted to discharge my mum - bedridden but physically fit - without my knowing ( I was looking at homes). They just rung me and said " Mum is being moved to ******* home at 2pm today. I broke down because the home was miles away and rung my husband who knew the bad reputation of home and who said ring them back and say under no circumstances will mum be moved and if she is I will take further advice. I put on my stern knickers rung them and said that. They didn't move mum. I went to see 4 homes over next 7 - 10 days and found the lovliest of homes 10 mins up road to me. She was moved within 2 days
What Im trying to say is don't be ram road into doing something you don't want to happen. Be firm and explain you are looking for a home etc BUT be firm

 

[Louise7]

Was your Mum self-funding though? Seems to be easier to stall discharge for a while if somebody is self-funding. If not, and the LA find a place, the hospital seem to want you out straight away. It's not so easy to find a variety of homes to look at / choose from if you need to find one that will accept the LA rate and has a space available. When my Mum was discharged she was put into an awful place, outside of the Borough, with the LA saying that it was the only space available. She was thankfully moved after 3 weeks (due to safeguarding issues) but the hospital wouldn't have kept Mum in for another week/10 days whilst waiting for something more suitable to come up as they wanted the bed.

 

[Herewego]

The experiences listed here leads me to think that reviewing all the homes in the area before they may be needed is a good idea. While you may not know when or if you will need one, I like to be in control and plan ahead for all eventualities, so think this will be on my 'to do' list for the next few months.

My OH is in about the 6c range of the 7 scale and we do have room to keep him at home (added on to our home when MIL was in need with her dementia - she was self funding) and was considering keeping the OH at home with one of the companies that offer 24/7/365 care in your own home. I know I will need more help as time goes on and do not plan to be a martyr, so planning and considering the options before I actually need them is important to me.

Has anyone used the 24/7 in own home option and do you know if you are LA/part self funded, whether this option is actually an option they will consider? It appears to be a much cheaper care package than a care/nursing home so thought the LA would consider it but I have not heard of anyone doing this.

 

[Distressed55]

The experiences listed here leads me to think that reviewing all the homes in the area before they may be needed is a good idea. While you may not know when or if you will need one, I like to be in control and plan ahead for all eventualities, so think this will be on my 'to do' list for the next few months.

My OH is in about the 6c range of the 7 scale and we do have room to keep him at home (added on to our home when MIL was in need with her dementia - she was self funding) and was considering keeping the OH at home with one of the companies that offer 24/7/365 care in your own home. I know I will need more help as time goes on and do not plan to be a martyr, so planning and considering the options before I actually need them is important to me.

Has anyone used the 24/7 in own home option and do you know if you are LA/part self funded, whether this option is actually an option they will consider? It appears to be a much cheaper care package than a care/nursing home so thought the LA would consider it but I have not heard of anyone doing this.

Yes, I arranged live in care for my dad. It is partly LA funded (its means tested, of course), so the amount will be dependent on your OHs income. You will need to shop around for care companies, and what services you actually need. Also, you will need to consider at what point they will say that they can no longer provide care for your OH. They are very good at saying that they don't give notice and provide end of life care, but that's not been my experience.

so its a very good idea to consider all possibilities and options before you are forced into a course of action that you don't necessarily want to take.

 

[Angela57]

I was lucky in a way, I lived with and looked after mum for 7 years, and was provided with respite for a few of those years. So we trialed several homes for mum for a week at a time using respite, until we found a home that mum approved of and was happy in. When she finally went into care following a week in hospital, luckily the home had a room for her and she's been there 2 years now.

 

[Herewego]

Yes, I arranged live in care for my dad. It is partly LA funded (its means tested, of course), so the amount will be dependent on your OHs income. You will need to shop around for care companies, and what services you actually need. Also, you will need to consider at what point they will say that they can no longer provide care for your OH. They are very good at saying that they don't give notice and provide end of life care, but that's not been my experience.

so its a very good idea to consider all possibilities and options before you are forced into a course of action that you don't necessarily want to take.

Thanks for your response - wonder if they will support that option as I live here.....will have to do some investigation I guess.

 

[Herewego]

I was lucky in a way, I lived with and looked after mum for 7 years, and was provided with respite for a few of those years. So we trialed several homes for mum for a week at a time using respite, until we found a home that mum approved of and was happy in. When she finally went into care following a week in hospital, luckily the home had a room for her and she's been there 2 years now.

Yes, will have to look into respite too as will definitely need some over the coming year/s. At the moment I have just started OH going to a day centre 4 days a week and that is such a relief! Good for both of us, as he sleeps much better when he has been to the DC even if he does complain about it.

I have arranged a week of respite (without SS) he is going for a week with a disabled group (including 1:1 support for him) giving me a week to empty his study (and other parts of the house/garden) and make it easier to manage. I need to find a locked cabinet for stuff I need to make sure he can't access and a few other modifications. As he does not recognise this as our house nor remember his way around it, I am sure that getting rid of the stuff one accumulates after 35 years in the same house will help my OH to in many ways feel 'less lost' at least that is what I hope! If he asks for anything we get rid of I will just say it is in the garage loft (which he will accept and not go into).........

I have no idea how his illness will play out so no idea if he will stay at home for the duration or go into care, but for my own piece of mind I need to know what the options are and what choices I have if/when the time comes.

 

[Distressed55]

Thanks for your response - wonder if they will support that option as I live here.....will have to do some investigation I guess.

The LA should disregard the property if the PWD is living in it when the financial assessment is done. However, yes, you should do some research before hand as I've found that social services often don't know what they should be doing. So you may need to be insistent to get this. Then again, you may have a co-operative LA.

 

[Angela57]

Yes, will have to look into respite too as will definitely need some over the coming year/s. At the moment I have just started OH going to a day centre 4 days a week and that is such a relief! Good for both of us, as he sleeps much better when he has been to the DC even if he does complain about it.

I have arranged a week of respite (without SS) he is going for a week with a disabled group (including 1:1 support for him) giving me a week to empty his study (and other parts of the house/garden) and make it easier to manage. I need to find a locked cabinet for stuff I need to make sure he can't access and a few other modifications. As he does not recognise this as our house nor remember his way around it, I am sure that getting rid of the stuff one accumulates after 35 years in the same house will help my OH to in many ways feel 'less lost' at least that is what I hope! If he asks for anything we get rid of I will just say it is in the garage loft (which he will accept and not go into).........

I have no idea how his illness will play out so no idea if he will stay at home for the duration or go into care, but for my own piece of mind I need to know what the options are and what choices I have if/when the time comes.

It was SS who approved my mum's respite, but that was to give me a break, and decided when I was assessed as her only, full time carer. We had to pay for the week in the chosen home, but at a much reduced rate.

 

[Angela57]

Thank you louise7 and Kevinl appreciate your good advice.

Although I have no advice to give to you Quantock, I wish you all the best in your search for a home that you feel will be suitable for your FIL, where he will be cared for well and is safe x