Hello,
I am new to Talking Point , so apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place...... I know similar issues have been discussed on Talking Point, but I am really flummoxed: is this just the whim of my father's social services department? or my father's social worker?
My husband and I have been caring for my 90 year-old father who has pretty advanced vascular dementia and is increasingly frail, with a variety of other significant health conditions. He lives alone near us and desperately wants to stay in his own home (which he does not own). He is not self-funding and has had council-funded carers four times per day since 2019 (in addition to daily care, housework etc. done by us).
He is alone at night and we have been ‘on call’ every night for the past five years. This has mostly been OK as night time incidents have been infrequent. Recently he is increasingly likely to try to get out of bed and we have found him on the floor once or twice, so the biggest issue for us now is night time risk.
My father still values his privacy and desperately does not want to go to a care home. The social worker, who is aware of this, told me on the phone that if he needed night time care the council would pay for residential care, but she also raised the alternative of a 24hr live-in carer. She quoted likely costs of both - and left me with the clear impression that the council would contribute the equivalent of residential care, leaving us to cover the additional cost of live-in care (presumably with a direct payments arrangement, as we had before). We are prepared to top-up the funds, but simply cannot afford to fully-fund his care.
However, when I asked the social worker to confirm my understanding, she sent me a one-line email which said: ‘The council does not fund live-in care.’ It provided nothing further. We are now completely at a loss and worried that she can force my father into residential care, against his will, if she decides he needs 24-hour care.
Is it true that The Care Act 2014 states that Councils should not discriminate between residential and community care when making funding decisions?
Given their responsibility to provide care, and their readiness to fund residential care, can the Council really decline to contribute to the cost of live-in care (which is my father’s preferred option, and when we are prepared to fund the additional cost) and force him into residential care?
Thanks for any experience or advice you can offer.
I am new to Talking Point , so apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place...... I know similar issues have been discussed on Talking Point, but I am really flummoxed: is this just the whim of my father's social services department? or my father's social worker?
My husband and I have been caring for my 90 year-old father who has pretty advanced vascular dementia and is increasingly frail, with a variety of other significant health conditions. He lives alone near us and desperately wants to stay in his own home (which he does not own). He is not self-funding and has had council-funded carers four times per day since 2019 (in addition to daily care, housework etc. done by us).
He is alone at night and we have been ‘on call’ every night for the past five years. This has mostly been OK as night time incidents have been infrequent. Recently he is increasingly likely to try to get out of bed and we have found him on the floor once or twice, so the biggest issue for us now is night time risk.
My father still values his privacy and desperately does not want to go to a care home. The social worker, who is aware of this, told me on the phone that if he needed night time care the council would pay for residential care, but she also raised the alternative of a 24hr live-in carer. She quoted likely costs of both - and left me with the clear impression that the council would contribute the equivalent of residential care, leaving us to cover the additional cost of live-in care (presumably with a direct payments arrangement, as we had before). We are prepared to top-up the funds, but simply cannot afford to fully-fund his care.
However, when I asked the social worker to confirm my understanding, she sent me a one-line email which said: ‘The council does not fund live-in care.’ It provided nothing further. We are now completely at a loss and worried that she can force my father into residential care, against his will, if she decides he needs 24-hour care.
Is it true that The Care Act 2014 states that Councils should not discriminate between residential and community care when making funding decisions?
Given their responsibility to provide care, and their readiness to fund residential care, can the Council really decline to contribute to the cost of live-in care (which is my father’s preferred option, and when we are prepared to fund the additional cost) and force him into residential care?
Thanks for any experience or advice you can offer.