Apologies if there are other threads on this but I am just trying to find a definitive answer to my mothers situation.
Basically mum has been in care with dementia since 2019. Later last year a friend mentioned to me that a friend of his had applied for CHC for her father and it wasn't means tested etc etc. I spoke to mum's care home and they set up an assessment. Bit surprised they never mentioned this in a review previously but that's another story. The upshot was mum wasn't eligible for CHC but did qualify for FNC. She is entitled to £209.19 per week that is paid directly to the nursing home. All good and that's where I left it.
It came up in conversation with my cousin over the weekend and my cousin asked if they had taken that £209.19 per week off my mum's bill. The answer is no, and to be honest I had never thought about it, but when I did think about it I found it quite bizarre. The home charged mum £****since she has been in the home, obviously with general increases in April 2021 and April 2022 and hadn't mentioned CHC to me. So on the basis of me suggesting if mum could have an assessment the home now receives around £836.76 extra per month. Whilst mum's invoice isn't itemised, maybe I should ask for that, it is described as "To NURSING fees due in respect of". The contract, whilst again not itemising exactly what you are paying for states "Private nursing fees are quoted gross excluding funded nursing care and are required to be paid gross by the resident. The funded nursing care element is paid to the care home from the Primary Care Trust (PCT). For all Nursing Home Residents the care home arranges for the PCT to visit the home to carry out an assessment of nursing needs. Following the assessment later the home and the Resident are informed by the PCT as to the Residents eligibility for nursing contribution."
I contacted both the CA and Age Concern who advised I contacted the authority. The authority finance team called and felt that the now extra funds should be taken off mum's bill but couldn't categorically state for sure and he even said the homes T's and C's so to speak didn't clarify. My cousin then called to say she had spoken to a solicitor where she works and the solicitor stated that the funds are paid to the care home and then it's "at their discretion" as to whether pass it on to the resident, and apparently more homes are tending not to pass it on now.
Now forgive me if I have missed something but why is this the case? If I hadn't mentioned this to the home then chances are they wouldn't have mentioned it to me by now and mum would still be paying £XYZ for exactly the same care as she is receiving now for £XYZ the only difference being is that the home are receiving an extra £209.19 per week. They never came to us and said your mum needs extra care so we need to charge her extra, but we can ask for an assessment to see if she qualifies for FNC. So in a nutshell it seems to me the home is being paid twice for mum's nursing care, once by mum and now by the authority.
I am just wondering why this isn't passed on in the form of a reduction to the residents bill and was hoping that someone would be able to explain why because £800 odd quid is an awful lot of money. Thank you.
Basically mum has been in care with dementia since 2019. Later last year a friend mentioned to me that a friend of his had applied for CHC for her father and it wasn't means tested etc etc. I spoke to mum's care home and they set up an assessment. Bit surprised they never mentioned this in a review previously but that's another story. The upshot was mum wasn't eligible for CHC but did qualify for FNC. She is entitled to £209.19 per week that is paid directly to the nursing home. All good and that's where I left it.
It came up in conversation with my cousin over the weekend and my cousin asked if they had taken that £209.19 per week off my mum's bill. The answer is no, and to be honest I had never thought about it, but when I did think about it I found it quite bizarre. The home charged mum £****since she has been in the home, obviously with general increases in April 2021 and April 2022 and hadn't mentioned CHC to me. So on the basis of me suggesting if mum could have an assessment the home now receives around £836.76 extra per month. Whilst mum's invoice isn't itemised, maybe I should ask for that, it is described as "To NURSING fees due in respect of". The contract, whilst again not itemising exactly what you are paying for states "Private nursing fees are quoted gross excluding funded nursing care and are required to be paid gross by the resident. The funded nursing care element is paid to the care home from the Primary Care Trust (PCT). For all Nursing Home Residents the care home arranges for the PCT to visit the home to carry out an assessment of nursing needs. Following the assessment later the home and the Resident are informed by the PCT as to the Residents eligibility for nursing contribution."
I contacted both the CA and Age Concern who advised I contacted the authority. The authority finance team called and felt that the now extra funds should be taken off mum's bill but couldn't categorically state for sure and he even said the homes T's and C's so to speak didn't clarify. My cousin then called to say she had spoken to a solicitor where she works and the solicitor stated that the funds are paid to the care home and then it's "at their discretion" as to whether pass it on to the resident, and apparently more homes are tending not to pass it on now.
Now forgive me if I have missed something but why is this the case? If I hadn't mentioned this to the home then chances are they wouldn't have mentioned it to me by now and mum would still be paying £XYZ for exactly the same care as she is receiving now for £XYZ the only difference being is that the home are receiving an extra £209.19 per week. They never came to us and said your mum needs extra care so we need to charge her extra, but we can ask for an assessment to see if she qualifies for FNC. So in a nutshell it seems to me the home is being paid twice for mum's nursing care, once by mum and now by the authority.
I am just wondering why this isn't passed on in the form of a reduction to the residents bill and was hoping that someone would be able to explain why because £800 odd quid is an awful lot of money. Thank you.
