what happens when self funding finances run out?

[jennifer1967]

the one i worked in had stairlifts and the staff operated the chairs and once up, residents were brought down to the lounge area for breakfast and the day. the staff would then operate the chair to take them to bed. there was a door between the hallway and the stairlift so separated off the stairlift

 

[lollyc]

I like your reply @northumbrian_k.
Last year I thought my mum may need to go into respite while OH was in hospital. There is a superb, many bedded NH at the end of our road, overlooking the sea, and I thought, perfect, close to home. I had a look round, saw the in-house pub, hotel style menu and all the other wonderful facilities advertised. Lovely for a week away for OH and I, but not for a 90 year old with Alzheimer's, it felt chilly and institutionalised.

We are on our knees after a dreadful year and planning the first respite break for mum to give OH and I time together.
I, (pre-pandemic) used to deliver library books to a small care home, again not too far to walk to. As soon as you're inside, there's always a lovely smell of lunch cooking. Up until now I've dismissed it for mum as it's a bit on the shabby side, only thirteen residents, but it's clean, homely and the staff are friendly.
After reading so many replies, I'm starting to think this could be the place for mum.

I have a worry though, which sounds daft.
There aren't many ground floor rooms and a stair lift is used to get residents upstairs. There's no way mum could operate the lift, she would be bought downstairs every day wouldn't she?

Mum has recently returned from respite in what I would describe as a 'posh' care home. It was a case of what had availability at the time, so I didn't go purely because it was the smartest. She came back with swollen legs and a pressure sore. Suffice to say she won't be going there again. Her mobility has decreased significantly since her last respite 18 months ago, at a different home, where I felt they would have struggled moving her - it sounds very similar to the one you are considering. I'm sure the staff would have managed, but I felt would be asking a lot of them - but for £1250 / week maybe that's not unreasonable.

 

[canary]

@lollyc - loss of mobility should not be a problem in the right care home. Mum ended up with limited mobility and they had no problems with that. Residents with no mobility at all were hoisted. It did not faze them.
And this was a pretty basic care home, remember.

 

[nitram]

For example, you might purchase a funeral plan (the sort where you pay the lot up front, rather than the sort where you pay a small amount each week and is more like insurance)

Do this from her account after converting joint account into two sole accounts.

I think what is important is how long the staff have been there. I would ask various staff how long they have worked there. If there is a lot of staff turnover, I would be inclined to look elsewhere. Unhappy staff is not a good thing in long term care.

By looking at job vacancies in chains and agencies you can get an idea of stability of staff employment.

 

[northumbrian_k]

So what would then happen after her money went below the threshold? Which would only be a matter of a few weeks.

If it is only a matter of a few weeks it will be worth getting a financial assessment done but make sure that your assets are not taken into account. I did this knowing that my wife's money would go below the threshold within weeks. The man from the council looked at her income, expenses and care home costs. He worked out the date when she would become eligible for Local Authority funding and calculated what her contribution would then be. She received Attendance Allowance for a further 28 days beyond that date and at first paid a higher contribution to reflect this. Her contribution was then reduced when the AA ended. See my post from November for a little more detail.

Financial Assessment

It seems incredible that it is almost exactly 3 years since I first approached the council for a financial assessment for my wife. At that time her capital was well above the threshold so the assessment was limited to a short phone call just to ascertain that fact. Since then she has...

forum.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[JC51]

Thank you northumbrian_k, very interesting.