Families 'misled' over care fees

[JPG1]

"Families of vulnerable elderly people are being misled over possible help with care home fees, says a charity."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8005402.stm

Another postcode lottery, with totally different rules in Wales and Scotland too.

"Councils in Wales and Scotland do not have that leeway and have to offer the deferred payment scheme.

In next week's Budget, the government is expected to announce the publication of a Green Paper which could propose that no-one will have to pay care home fees until they die."

.

 

[TyJane]

vunerable peopple and families paying for care

We should all get together and refuse to pay, it is a disgrace that because people with dementia are classed as being vunerable, should not mean they should have to pay for thier care, it amou ts to fraud.

tyJane

 

[Marianne]

I watched the interview this morning and I am always amazed that NHS CHC is never mentioned, the charity representative just mentioned that if you have more than £22,000 you have to fund yourself, which is not true. People need to be made aware of NHS CHC unless they are given the information they cannot even choose whether or not to give that route a try.

 

[Grannie G]

The cut off line from April 2009 is £23,000.

 

[SilverStar]

I was watching the early BBC News channel (from around 6am-7.30am this morning and was dismayed to see a representative from Counsel and Care, another from an elderly person's charity (can't recall which one), and someone from a council discuss this issue without mentioning assessment and continuing care funding once.

These large well-funded charities are simply letting people down by failing to pass on information which could mean people don't need to sell their homes after all.

I actually wonder if they really understand that people have a right to continuing care funding? Several years ago I had a phone conversation with a helper from one of these charities and I actually knew more about the patient's right to assessment than she did.

The only good thing about the government announcing that homes won't need to be sold until after a person dies is that relatives will see that for the disgusting money grabbing it is and it will be a massive vote loser!

 

[Marianne]

GrannieG Thank you for telling me it has been raised I wasn't aware they had a heart. How can they afford to raise the cut off by £500, it is a dam shame they couldn't cut off Fred the Shred at £23,000. This is a national disgrace, when a person has worked all their life paid their insurance and taxes and when they need care due to illness they find they have been dumped by the NHS and told to go private.

 

[Brucie]

I actually wonder if they really understand that people have a right to continuing care funding

to be accurate, people have a right to apply for continuing care funding. There is no blank cheque on this matter.

 

[ella24]

The cut off line from April 2009 is £23,000.

Hiya

I think it's £22,250 (from direct.gov) unless the direct.gov site hasnt been updated

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HealthAndWellBeing/HealthServices/CareHomes/DG_10031525


e

 

[Brucie]

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/431

this Alzheimer's Society Fact Sheet implies there is an uplift for 2009 - but that is subject to confirmation.

Web sites are frequently not updated quickly. I guess we just have to await confirmation.

 

[Grannie G]

I have seen it in writing somewhere, among the paperwork that has been handed to me recently, and it was confirmed verbally my the manager of a care agency.
I will try to find it.

 

[jenniferpa]

There's a new CRAG http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publication...tions/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_097578

It shows £23000

 

[Marianne]

The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on July 5 1948, it had at its heart three core principles:

•that it meet the needs of everyone,
•that it be free at the point of delivery, and
•that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

Has anything changed I don't think so, if it had changed then nobody would get NHS CHC, we would all pay privately for healthcare. But that is not the case some do get NHSCHC, some break through the barriers and understand that unlawful decisions are being made to deny patients CHC. They can bring in new rules willy-nilly to make it harder but the 1948 NHS Act still applies.

 

[TyJane]

misled over care fees

Yes! Marianne, your information is correct, but it seems people with this disease will carry on being financially abused, regardless. Frightening isn't it?

 

[jenniferpa]

As far as I can see, though, the issue of NHSCC is not what this news report was about. The news report was about the deferred payment schemes that may or may not be offered to families. Let's try to keep the thread on track.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a cut and dried legal precedent (on the basis of this news report) on whether LAs DO have to offer a deferred payment scheme (unless it's Wales or Scotland). I would like to hope that this will be clarified but doubt it will be over the short term.

 

[Marianne]

This thread was titled "Families misled over care fees" I think not being told that NHS CHC exists for starters is misleading. When we have to rely on a charity worker coming on a news programme for a couple of minutes to tell us half a story I think sums it up for what it is, a total shambles.

When we have to rely on 'Panorama' a TV programme to make us aware of the disgusting care our elderly are receiving for their hard earned money is a disgrace. Where are the agencies who are paid high salaries to protect these people, when I needed them they were working from home, probably watching daytime TV.

It is hard,a very hard time of life when your parents require care,but when you are paying out more than it would cost in a good hotel the least you can expect is they will be safe. My dad paid £2000.00 for residential care not nursing and all they had to do was feed him out of his 60p daily food allowance but they couldn't even do that.

Sorry jenniferpa for going off thread a little but believe me it is all part and parcel of the same thing, it comes down to us not knowing our rights, but if you are not told, how can you know, and a two minute slot on TV is not good enough.

 

[jenniferpa]

Actually I don't disagree in principle. However, when a thread is specifically referencing a given news story, as this one is, forum protocol is to at least try to stay on track, even if a little diversion is inevitable.

 

[MarkEdge]

BBC commentary on care fees

What frustrates me about this news item was how the BBC appears to misguidedly think that selling a home is the only option, e.g. from the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8005402.stm):

"About 60,000 people a year must sell their home to fund care, but sales are taking longer in the current recession. . . Every year about 170,000 people need to go into care, and for one in three the only way they can afford the fees is to sell their home." (italics/bold mine)

These comments were not even challenged by the Age Concern/Help the Aged spokesperson! And as mentioned by others, no comment was made about the right to full NHS funding for those with a primary health need.

The spokesperson even said that "We do need local authorities offering, universally, this scheme as it's a good option for many people." Hmm. Maybe good for those who are above the means-test threshold and who don't have a primary health need, but a bad option for many who would qualify for continuing care.

Mark

 

[Clive]

Hi Mark and Marianne

I think everyone who is a Carer of a person who has saved his or her wages (either as a house or in the bank) agrees with what you say.

You are preaching to the converted when you post on TP.

What the country needs is someone who can communicate with the people who run the BBC, and other media organisations, and convince them of the error of their ways.

No doubt the article that this thread refers to will have it’s origin in some “press release” from some other organisation that has a hidden agenda… possible connected to the budget.

What the country needs are people, like you Mark and Marianne, to use their knowledge and enthusiasm to contact the BBC and persuade it to provide the information that normal people require.

Hope you have been in touch with the BBC about this matter?

Do let us know when you are invited to appear on one of their programmes, as you will have our full support

Best wishes

Clive

 

[MarkEdge]

Hope you have been in touch with the BBC about this matter?

Hi CLive

Yes, I have. I'll let you know if they respond.

Mark

 

[Grannie G]

I am in the process of composing a letter regarding the whole subject of funding for care.

I will send it to every MP in the Labour Party who has any responsibility for health and social care, and to every UK newspaper. I will also send letters to the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, inviting them to take up the cause .

I see no point pushing for change on TP as we are all in favour and as Clive says, we would be preaching to the converted.