Private care at home

ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Hello everyone, I'm new here and hoping for some advice. My mother has middle stages of dementia and is coming to live with me in the UK for a while (probably 6 months) since her primary carer, my sister, desperately needs a break. Is it possible to get temporary private care at home -- a few hours daily, or a couple of full days? Roughly how much would such arrangements cost? I'm sorry-- I realise this sounds very naive perhaps, but I don’t have a clue. Don't even know where to start looking!
 

Pear trees

Registered User
Jan 25, 2015
441
0
Private care agencies in Berkshire range from £21-27 per hour, more at weekends and they do minimum 1 hour visits. When my mum first had carers through Social Services after a hospital stay she had 3 15 minute visits a day which we had to pay for as she is over asset threshold. Most of the carers were rushed, and even rude and bossy. Daycare is £40-70 per day. Your mum should be eligible for free prescriptions once registered as a full patient, and GP can do referral to local memory clinic for assessment.
I found that once local Social Services knew my mum was self funding they were not interested at all, reluctant to do even a basic assessment.
 

ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Hi both, thanks for your replies. The problem is that she's only coming for a few months (or at least that's the plan at the moment). She lives currently with my sister abroad, who badly needs a break due to other family issues. Also, since she doesn't hold UK citizenship, she wouldn't be eligible for NHS care. So I need to explore short-term private options. Luckily my work is flexible enough that I can still fit it in between other things, and at the moment she is still happy to watch tv etc and amuse herself (it's only double incontinence which is going to be a major challenge). But I have a 15-month old toddler as well, so will need some help -- ideally at least a couple of hours every day -- and one full day when I need to be at work. I don't even know how one goes about arranging it -- don't know where I can go for advice apart from here!
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,075
0
Bury
If you post the first part of your post code somebody may be able to give your some information relevant to your locality.

As well as care costs which I think are inevitable have you thought about any health problems that may arise?

If your mother is currently resident in the EEA
https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea
she should be able to obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which will entitle her to the same rights for medical treatment as a UK citizen. Otherwise she will have to pay the full cost of any treatment under the NHS unless she is resident in one of a few countries that have some sort of reciprocal agreement.
 
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Jessbow

Registered User
Mar 1, 2013
5,678
0
Midlands
Code:

You are perfectly at liberty to call any care agencies in your locale, and ask for assistance, you don't need a referral or any such . Its not going to be cheap, budget at least £15-20 per hour dependant on where you live.

Have an idea what you want them to do, and how long it will take and how often you want it doing.~

Please get the access to health care sorted- at least registered as a temp resident with your GP, irrespective of the funding side. Should she become unwell you'll have more than enough to do!

Do not under estimate the effect that a change of environment will have- she maybe fine or may think the front door is the bathroom door...... Or she may go into hstess mode ( everything seems okay and nothing wrong with her) but she wont be able to sustain it.
 
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Shedrech

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
12,649
0
UK
hi ndnd
and welcome to TP
here's a link to the main AS site re finding local services
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200121&_ga=1.124459209.213745934.1462100281#!/search
and below is the CQC site (the authority which inspects services) - so services in your area will be listed
https://www.cqc.org.uk/

it may well be worth contacting your Local Authority's Adult Services before your mum comes here to find out what support may be available, and what will not - maybe CAB will be able to help, and the local Age UK
best wishes
 

Anney63

Registered User
Oct 5, 2016
22
0
Hi my mother in law is on the direct payment system but has deteriorated fast so needs more care . I have payments via the direct payments system and employ s private carer . She now needs extra help so I have to have a new review . I believe that now there is a new criteria for assessment which is not hourly paid . Can anyone advise what this is I'm a bit worried that it may mean reduced payments rather than increased .
 

ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Thanks everyone -- you're all so incredibly kind! We're in Oxford, if that helps in terms of giving an idea of costs. I've looked up a few places and emailed them as well, let's see.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
Hi both, thanks for your replies. The problem is that she's only coming for a few months (or at least that's the plan at the moment). She lives currently with my sister abroad, who badly needs a break due to other family issues. Also, since she doesn't hold UK citizenship, she wouldn't be eligible for NHS care. So I need to explore short-term private options. Luckily my work is flexible enough that I can still fit it in between other things, and at the moment she is still happy to watch tv etc and amuse herself (it's only double incontinence which is going to be a major challenge). But I have a 15-month old toddler as well, so will need some help -- ideally at least a couple of hours every day -- and one full day when I need to be at work. I don't even know how one goes about arranging it -- don't know where I can go for advice apart from here!

I think it is wonderful that you are prepared to look after your mum for what is really quite a long time. I am just a bit concerned that it may be more of a challenge than you are anticipating and you may become overwhelmed. Do you have a back-up plan just in case you find that, actually, you cant cope?
 

Katrine

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
2,837
0
England
Depending on what you can afford, I would think you should consider a live-in carer, especially as it's only for a few months. You'll get more for your money than paying hourly rates, and you'll have peace of mind knowing that your mother's care and your child's care will not be in conflict.

I pay £85 per 24 hours for a live-in carer, plus agency fees, plus travel costs, plus bed and board. The carer has her own bedroom (and own bathroom, but this is not absolutely essential). The carer obviously needs personal time, and sleep, but in your situation you can cover the 24 hours between you. The bonus is that you could share cooking, shopping and laundry duties - by negotiation.

If you find that your mother needs support from the carer at night you'll be charged extra, but you could choose to be 'on duty' yourself instead. If your mother is very restless at night and sleeps in the day, then you can negotiate with the agency to adjust the carer's working hours to be 'waking nights', with the carer sleeping in the daytime, when you would look after your mother. I mention all that to show that with live-in care you arrange a care plan that suits your family's individual needs, and can make adjustments quite swiftly if things turn out differently than you expected.
 

ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Canary -- I don't have a backup plan, really, and frankly am terrified that she might fall ill or have transient ischemic attacks again while she is here, but we're a bit stuck for alternatives.
Katrine -- whereabouts in the UK are you? £84 for a live-in carer sounds quite reasonable, actually, given that some websites say it can be up to £20 an hour!
 

Katrine

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
2,837
0
England
It's a national agency. I can PM you the details.

It costs us about £700 per week, including the agency fees.

Then there's travel costs for the carer to get to the booking and home again. Shouldn't be too bad for you in Oxford. Then you've got extra utilities usage, laundry costs, food and drink.

The total cost would be between £850 and £1,000 per week on average, depending on the level of client requirements, frequency of changeover between carers, and travel costs.

My mum's carers are self-employed, and the agency offers 'introductions'. They match carers to the client's needs and arrange bookings on a rolling basis, unless you require something different. Carers are checked (used to be CRB, can't remember what it's called now). Various areas of care training are covered, with carers being required to have additional recent training certification for particular needs, e.g. use of hoists.

Because the carers are self-employed we don't have to do their tax and NI, which you would otherwise need to do. Some agencies employ the carers directly, usually the case with peripatetic domiciliary care (care visits) rather than live-in bookings. In that situation you buy care services from the agency which then sends you one of their employees.
 
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ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Katrine -- thank you! Please do PM me the details. That would be a great help!
 

ndnd

Registered User
Nov 7, 2016
6
0
Katrine, I can't reply to PMs since I'm new! Thank you so much, though -- I'll look them up.
 

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