Apologies if this is a bit long, but trying not to drip feed.
Mum, mid 90’s with vascular dementia. Lives with us. Had a fall earlier this year and was admitted to hospital with minor hip fracture. After a couple of weeks in hospital and some physio there were still various difficulties in getting her mobile. The hospital decided that there was no medical reason to keep her there and to free up the bed they discharged her with a temporary four week care package, for which we were initially told she would not be charged, as it was the ‘assessment period’ and charging would start if she required care beyond this period.
After two weeks I rang the care agency because her mobility had improved to the point where she was pretty much back to where she was before the fall. I was told that because the care was free for 28 days I might as well carry on with it - so reduced the care visits from four two two per day.
I didn’t renew the care package after the assessment period because mum really didn’t need it. Rang the LA and cancelled, and that was that. Mid march I received an email from the LA asking for details of mum’s income and other financial information as they were doing a financial assessment for the relevant fees for care. I thought it was a formality as we’d already been told it was free, so provided the information. We’ve now had a bill for over £700 from the LA. I’ve been back on to the hospital via PALS who investigated and said that we should never have been told the care was free, as mum didn’t qualify and the responsibility was passed on to the LA.
Try as I might, I can’t find out why she doesn’t qualify, given that two other family members were discharged from hospital under similar circumstances and received free care. I was also miffed because mum has lost capacity due to the dementia and I have her LPA for both health and welfare and financial matters. Despite this, on two occasions I arrived during visiting hours to find the hospital social worker interviewing mum to ascertain her care needs. At one point they had been discussing residential care as an option even though I had been told by her physio that she was nowhere near that point. Mum has an advance directive within the LPA that she doesn’t want residential care unless it’s medically advised and there are no alternatives. Surely I should have been advised of this meeting as mum doesn’t have capacity, and I was under the impression that this is one of the reasons for LPA. The hospital were fully aware of the LPA and have a copy on record.
Would appreciate some advice if anyone has had similar experience or perhaps can hazard a guess as to why she didn’t qualify for free care.