I am trying to determine what happens when a person dies in a Care Home who is also funded by the LA. What cost do Care Homes apply during the termination of the contract as the deceased will presumably be taken away for Post Mortem and storage etc.? Interested to know others experiences so as to make the final Deputy duties smooth as possible. Thanks.
MIL dies and Care Home Finalising costs?
- Thread starter happyhacker
- Start date
I think it depends on the Contract and the Care Home, to be honest. I know some do charge for a full month, as the Contract allows for a month's "notice", but others don't. My husband happened to die on a Bank Holiday monday, at the beginning of a month (it was 3rd August 2015), two years ago. The bills were always issued by email on the first working day of the month, and on the Tuesday morning, the bill for the full month arrived. Followed five minutes later by an abject apology, and instructions to disregard the bill, and they would issue the corrected bill in due course. The guy in charge of accounts had prepared the bills before the weekend, and had just sent them on Tuesday morning before realising that my husband had died. In actual fact, when I did get the final bill, they had only charged for the first two days of August, even though on the day he died, because it was a Bank Holiday, there was a delay getting a doctor, and he wasn't removed until mid afternoon. But I don't know if that's the norm here, or if it's just that nursing home.
If someone dies while in a home funded by the LA then "finalising the costs" is the LA's problem not yours if they LA is paying they have to sort out the notice period with the home. I would say that I've noticed when someone LA funded passes away the room tends to have a new occupant quicker than it does where the person is self funding.
If someone in under a DoLS then they're technically in the care of the state so the body is removed to an approved place (often the local hospital) until the coroner is advised. The coroner looks at the circumstances; medical reports, doctor's comments, other illness and decides whether or not they want an inquest.
If everything's in order then they authorise the release of the body to the family.
K
If someone in under a DoLS then they're technically in the care of the state so the body is removed to an approved place (often the local hospital) until the coroner is advised. The coroner looks at the circumstances; medical reports, doctor's comments, other illness and decides whether or not they want an inquest.
If everything's in order then they authorise the release of the body to the family.
K
Dad was self funding and when he died we had to pay 2 weeks fees after death. I asked that LA post death question at the time and the manager told me the LA in our area will not agree contracts with them if fees are applied after death so the fees are paid only to include the day of death. Interestingly I was also told that the LA pay in arrears so easy for them to do that whereas as a self funder dads contract was for in advance so they already have the fees. Different rules for different funding circumstances it seems. And you are right K, rooms that had been LA funded are filled first it also seemed in dads care home., so the notice period is strung out. I have written to the commission looking into this with my experience in the hope it helps change this self funding notice practice for others in the future. Should be 1 week max. It bothers me not one jot that dads house funds were quite rightly spent on his care, his money for his benefit, just that double standards are being applied by a care home.
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Axtually finalising can still very much the person's problem when the LA is involved with funding as often the bulk of the fees are paid with pensions with the LA picking up the difference. My husband was only charged up to the date of his death. In his LA owned home, rooms were always redecorated before another person moved in so it was some time before rooms were reoccupied. I was also told there was no rush for me to clear the room even though payment had stopped.
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I think you'll find the LA owned homes don't have the same ethos as those in the care home industry where time is money and so can be more reasonable in their attitude, but that is a guess as all the LA owned care homes were closed here many years ago as they have been in many authorities all over the country.
Rooms are decorated between residents but that's done in 48 hours usually at night as are the communal areas, if the LA don't pay a notice period for a room when someone dies then that's costing them money and businesses don't like that.
K
