Wish me luck?

Blue_Gremlin

Registered User
Mar 15, 2006
89
0
45
Morecambe, UK
Ok guys, today is the meeting with the benefits woman to 'cost' home help for Jean (which don't understand since it has already started - seems a bit late to me, but anyway).

Then we get to try and make her go to her diabetic blood nurse appointment.

All this after yesterday trying to get her to choose a new living room fire cos hers is knackered.

Anyway, best get going if gonna be 'super-grandaughter-in-law' today!!!!

Blue_Gremlin
 

connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
Wishing you all the luck you need for today.

Hope you reach the outcome that suits all. You know you are the "best"

Take care now, Connie
 

lou lou

Registered User
Nov 9, 2005
46
0
London
When I contacted social services about carers for my mum how they explained it to me was that I had to fill out all these financial assessment forms as SS care is means tested. However they would put the carers in straight away while the financial assessment trundled along in another dept.

Anyway mum ended up with carers 3 X a day 7 days a week for which she was assessed as making the maximum contribution allowed as her only income was pension and benefit.

Mum had this care arrangement for six months before she went into hospital and then nursing care last year but I only ever got the bill for 2 months (AT £120 per month).

Mum didn't own her own house and after she went into hospital she lost her disability benefits which took her income down from £208 PW to £111 something per week. Out of this she was assessed as having to pay a contribution of £90 something per week for her care, leaving her with the statutory £18.80 PW pocket money as it were.

So far so good. I mistakenly thought that the DWP would reduce her pension but apparrently it has to be paid and then the care home ,not SS, would bill us for the £90 pw contribution......except they never have.

I've filled out all the forms correctly sent things back to those that requested them but somehow I don't feel inclined to chase this one.

Mum was assessed as needing a high level of nursing care imput and there was some talk about continuing care funding but I never knew what arrangement was made between mum's local SSD and the care home but so far no bill and mums pension is happily accruing away in her account. It's there if they ever ask for it. Any one else ever had this...er..."problem"

Lou Lou
 

jarnee

Registered User
Mar 18, 2006
181
0
leicestershire
LouLou,

Not a bad little problem and I don't blame you for not chasing it up. They soon will come after you if they every catch on.


About to get controversial, so if you're having a bad day, or feeling politically correct, DON'T READ THIS BIT & apologies for any offence caused, but....!!!

We shouldn't have to pay for it anyway...... if my husband was a drug addict and neither of us went out to work and I had 7 kids, or even 10!!!, hey, no problem, the taxpayer will provide him with treatment and us all with a home, food and other of life's essentials, like playstations; XBoxes, DVDs computers (you know, the kind of stuff we NEED to survive from day to day)
But our parents, our elderly, who have worked all their lives, paid their "stamp" and their taxes....oh no, they can't have anything. They can pay for themselves....or their relatives can pay.


GGGGRRRRRRRRRR !!!!! :mad:
There, finished, now.

We have been lucky with our authority who have been very fair about my dad's payments / contribution. But I know not everyone is so lucky.....WHY, OH WHY, does it have to be down to luck !! :confused:

Hope it goes OK

Thanks for the chance to rant a bit

Jarnee
X
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
jarnee said:
We shouldn't have to pay for it anyway...... if my husband was a drug addict and neither of us went out to work and I had 7 kids, or even 10!!!, hey, no problem, the taxpayer will provide him with treatment and us all with a home, food and other of life's essentials, like playstations; XBoxes, DVDs computers (you know, the kind of stuff we NEED to survive from day to day)
But our parents, our elderly, who have worked all their lives, paid their "stamp" and their taxes....oh no, they can't have anything. They can pay for themselves....or their relatives can pay.

Totally agree with every word of that Jarnee, I think you are 'preaching to the converted' here though, and don't imagine you'll get much in the way of argument!
 

maggier

Registered User
Jan 9, 2006
78
0
66
manchester
OMG! Jarnee!!!

I cannot believe someone actually thinks the same way as me. When I said something similar to this at work, I was told by a member of staff that I was not very christian. Hard luck!

I agree with every word you have said, and if some people are offended - then Sorry! but it is true, people do not accidentally become drug addicts, they start off themselves and it is a choice they make, same as those who do not work, not because they cannot work due to ill health, but because they don't have to work when the govt is keeping them in a lovely lifestyle without the need for them to get their a****es out of bed in a morning! Unfortumnately our loved ones did not have the chance to chose whether they got ill or not.

There I have said it now.

Maggier:mad:
 

Tender Face

Account Closed
Mar 14, 2006
5,379
0
NW England
Blue Gremlin, do we get an update on your day? - by the time I read your post you were probably half way through it - trust you've planned yourself a treat for this evening!

To everyone who has posted/read this thread can I ask a stupid question? (or several!)

Why is that dementia sufferers are put in this position (re payment for care/homes etc)? Is it not discrimination? Is it not 'simply' (I use that word in context!) another form of disease which needs specialist care?

I am thinking along the lines of how many people in our family have lost their battles with, for example, cancer - but for years they were afforded priority care and treatment - from hospitals to 'home helps' and even hospices - there was never a question of what anything cost and who was going to pay for it (admittedly a lot of help from charitable sources like MacMillan) - and I am hugely grateful for all of it, of course. Not for one moment, have we ever before had to think about using savings and selling properties that had been worked so hard for....

I just read so much of people here (self included) who on top of all the heartbreak of this disease and the practicalties of maintaining any life outside of caring, find themselves worrying about how to 'finance' care. Is there any other disease/condition this happens with?

If so, why? If not, why not?

Last question (promise!) What can be done? I'm first to sign up!

Tender Face
 

jarnee

Registered User
Mar 18, 2006
181
0
leicestershire
Hi Tenderface

If you're first to sign up, I'm right behind you.

I agree about AD being "just" another illness, so why isn't it (care etc etc) paid for like it is for all other illnesses?
Had never thought of it like that before.

What a wise old owl you are :D

J
 

Blue_Gremlin

Registered User
Mar 15, 2006
89
0
45
Morecambe, UK
Update on today

Hi guys,

Seems I have caused a bit of a stir - not that I have any probelm with that (in fact I usually cause comotion). I do agree with jarnee - but then what part of life is ever 'fair'?? It is always those who are least deserving who receive the most.

Anyways, it seems that today went very well. We met one of Jean's home help ladies (she looked surprised and uncomfortable that we had arrived while she was still there). Then the lady from the benefits place came and said that it looked like home help would be free at the moment because she pays full (less single persons discount) council tax and all her own bills and has not very much income and few savings. She is going to apply for something (I forget what she called it) that means Jean will get her council tax paid and get pension credits and things like that. What I don't get is that once she has done all that and Jean is better off then they re-evaluate her and make her pay towards the home help!!! I don't understand the logic behind giving someone benefits just to take them in care fees??? :confused:

And yes Tender_Face, my husband and I are going to sit and watch tv tonight with a couple of beers - just relax. :rolleyes: This is SUPPOSED to be our holiday week from work after all!!! We both work in education so have to take holidays in vacation times and all we wanted to do was work on our house a bit and have fun - been to Jeans three times this week and sorted more out than we normally have to do in a working week!!

Blue_Gremlin
 

Blue_Gremlin

Registered User
Mar 15, 2006
89
0
45
Morecambe, UK
Oh yeah I forgot...

The other thing today was that we took Jean to the doctors and she had to have blood taken. She is sooooooooo thin EVERY vein in her arms stick out really far so it REALLY hurts her to have blood taken. I had to hold her hand. Also her arm was so thin that the electronic blood pressure reader wouldn't work!!! She was also weighed - now I now she is thin and there really isn't much to her - but 4 stone 6 lbs??? That is just scary!!! :eek:

Blue_Gremlin
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
Wow B.G.,

I thought my Mum was badly underweight at 5 st. 7 lbs. (She's 5 ft. nothing, and has always eaten like a bird, but still ...) Her usual healthy weight was 7 st. 7 lbs. up until about 8 years ago, and she's dropped gradually since then, but quite dramatically in the last 2 years. The trouble is, they have no 'reserves' to draw on if they become ill, do they. Not much you can do about it though, I find.
 

May

Registered User
Oct 15, 2005
627
0
Yorkshire
Hey TF & Jarnee

Count me in, perhaps we can have a conga line..............

'We want the care to be free, we want the care to be free.....da dar da da, da dar da da..' :D



Blue Gremlin

Glad to hear your day went reasonably well (apart from the illogical bits!:eek: ) Enjoy your beers this evening. Take care
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
Without going into great detail, I would say that some people with conditions other than dementia do pay for their care. The Coughlan case which it was hoped would set a precedent for continuing NHS care actually involved a lady who was badly disabled after being hit by a car when she was only a young woman. I also believe that the Panorama programme on this subject that was shown recently showed nursing home residents with conditions other than dementia.

However, what the majority of people with dementia have in common, apart from the illness, is that they are OLD. Old people are not valued in our society. There were headlines today about the legislation that is being brought in to protect elderly people in hospitals and care homes. Each hospital is to have a person responsible for ensuring that elderly people in hospitals retain their dignity. Aparently we are halfway through a 10 year plan to ensure elderly people are well looked after in care/nursing homes and hospitals. I haven't seen evidence of much being achieved over the last 5 years, so don't hold out much hope for the next 5 either.

I am also amazed that it is necessary to LEGISLATE for old people to be cared for properly and with respect and dignity. Didn't that used to come under the heading of common decency?!!!!
 

jarnee

Registered User
Mar 18, 2006
181
0
leicestershire
Noelphobic.

Yes, you are probably right about other conditions (IVF could be another example and I'm sure there are more....don't want to get too controversial, though) It just SEEMS like it's the only one, I guess.

I agree, it did used to be called "common decency", but of course that was in the days of respect and courtesy too :rolleyes:

Hey ho

J
 

connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
I do so agree about courtesey being extended to the elderly, but in our case, Lionel being just 64, we still have to pay for every aspect of care.

Had he squandered his money away after his divorce, and had he met up with a woman maybe on benefits, his care would be funded,,,,but no, I am O.K. financially, so Lionels money will just go on his care.

He should have put it into property or something.........I just get so cross.
He cannot care for himself, has been assesed as needing two people to administer to his needs, but I am left to do it on my own, unless he pays for help for me.

Sorry, did not mean to rant off. Goodnight, Connie
 

Tender Face

Account Closed
Mar 14, 2006
5,379
0
NW England
Blue_Gremlin said:
Hi guys,

She is going to apply for something (I forget what she called it) that means Jean will get her council tax paid and get pension credits and things like that. What I don't get is that once she has done all that and Jean is better off then they re-evaluate her and make her pay towards the home help!!! I don't understand the logic behind giving someone benefits just to take them in care fees??? :confused:

Blue_Gremlin

Blue Gremlin, I have yet to find a situation where words like 'logic' and 'benefits' marry up in the same sentence! When I made tentative enquiries about Carer's Allowance I discovered that I might get £45 a week (if I gave up my job:eek: ) - then my mother would lose out about by the same amount IF she was entitled to Pension Credit (which I gather is a supplement to those on what I once knew as a 'basic State Pension').

Because my mum is NOT entitled to Pension Credit (thanks to dad having paid additional contributions and other bits and bobs), I could potentially 'get' £45 per week and mum would NOT be penalised. :confused: Which, to me, means because my mum is marginally 'better off' in terms of her pension than some others, means 'we' (collectively) could get more money 'from the state' than someone who relies on their pension credit for any reasonable standard of living????? Sorry, if I am being totally thick here, but I really cannot fathom that one!

I'm afraid (or I should say proud) I came from the school of 'work hard, play hard', 'never be embarrassed to take home a pay packet' (if you've worked hard!).... for anyone caring for people of the same age as mum (or dad would have been) I wonder why they picked themselves up from a childhood of deprivation in the depression (not to mention the 40s and 50s) to have contributed so much financially or otherwise to the UK society only to be treated as they are now....

Ugh! Soz, all! TF


PS: May, loved the lyrics.... have been humming 'Children of the Revolution' since supper time....(!)
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
connie
unless he pays for help for me.

Do you not have power of attorney (Spelling) over Lionel Finances so that you can pay for someone to help you ?

Is Lionel saying that he does not want to pay ?(If you think I am being to noise ,please you don’t have to answer )
 

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