GM with dementia - aftercare costs?

[jbee664]

My GM has vascular dementia.

She's currently in hospital with a kidney infection but we as a family realise (and after medical assessments etc) that she has to go into some kind of care home as she can no longer look after herself - we've had calls in the past few weeks to go and get her as she's been found wandering around late at night etc.

She owns her own house...does this mean that her care will need to be funded out of her house? I've read about the Section 117 which could mean it could be funded?

Section 117 is funding for care if someone has been admitted to hospital under the mental health act (usually section 3). I'm assuming from what you have written she hasn't been sectioned so this would not apply. I would ask to speak to the hospital social services or you can call the hospital switchboard and ask for the social work team. If she has a significant health need she may qualify for continuing healthcare funding from the NHS. If she is being discharged to a care home the hospital should start the ball rolling for a CHC assessment, and it would be your local clinical commissioning group (ccg) who would follow this up.

The hospital cant tell you she has to go to a care home. They can say she lacks capacity to decide on her discharge destination. If this is the case a best interests decision should be made. No long term arrangements surrounding her care should be made in the situation you described as it is a crisis. You should ask for a transitional/step down placement while the infection clears. Failing this it should be a short term placement with a full review in the community when her health is better. This should allow you time to look into the financial issues. She has an infection so it may be that is causing increased confusion and agitation and she may even be able to return home.

NerrSnerr is right about section 117 funding, it is for people who have been detained (sectioned) under section 3 of the mental health act.

CHC is a possibility but unlikely as the threshold is very high. You can download a CHC DST (decision support tool) yourself and have a look at what criteria your Grandma would need to meet to qualify. It's important to note that everything in a DST needs to be evidenced (by medical records, care home records etc) so make sure you get the care home to evidence properly.

Info on section 117
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/aftercare-under-section-117-of-the-mental-health-act/

DST for CHC
www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwju7tCtm8fPAhXJL8AKHe5kDj4QFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F528272%2FDecision_Support_Tool_Amended.docx&usg=AFQjCNFURsIdWUjAPkicWuME3SCmqcDvAg&sig2=Cl5pmd-XpuuLmW6Rg9mnJw&bvm=bv.134495766,d.d24

Example of a Best Interest Decision tool -

www.scie.org.uk/mca-directory/files/best-interest-checklist.pdf