Reablement care after long stay in hospital

[Ribenamum]

Hi there

My 82 yo mum has been in hospital for 3 months.

Now they are talking about reablement care.
At first they said it would be free for the first 6 weeks.
Now they are saying she will need a full care package which would require 2 nurses coming in 4 times a day and that my parents would have to pay!

Basically we think mum would be fine with 2 visits a day as my dad and brother live there.

The reablement team seem to really pushing us to agree to this and we feel under pressure to agree

Advice please?

Without knowing a little about your mum's health problems it's hard to say. I can imagine a scenario where you are pressured to agree to something because 1)they want her to vacate her hospital bed and 2) they are legally obliged to carry out a safe discharge. On the other hand, it has to be considered they maybe know from experience that your mum will need substantial levels of care. if it is physical stuff, then at 80 odd your Dad probably won't be able to do it all. I assume your parents have been means tested and have more than the statutory £23000 in savings, otherwise they'd be getting care for free.

It is quite standard to be given 6 weeks 'reablement' for free after hospital then some people don't need any further help and some would go on to have a care package which they would be financially assessed to contribute towards.
If they are now saying they won't give reablement and want to go straight to a normal paid for care package this could be because they don't think your mum has potent to increase her independence much from where she is now?
My advice is that they can't force her to accept care (especially if your parents are contributing!) but it is much much easier to start off with more then reduce than the other way round. There must be a reason why they're saying 4 double up calls - usually this would indicate she needs hoisting and help with toiletting or changing a pad - 4 times a day is standard for this, it may not be appropriate for your dad to help her with personal stuff and you wouldn't want her sitting in a wet pad for long.

I'm sorry you feel under pressure and you should not be pressured especially where money's involved.
But you can agree then always reduce once she's home - it's not set in stone and trust me social services are always happy to reduce care packages as long as someone is safe! Being discharged with little or no care then trying to arrange it yourself with social services If she needs more help could be a nightmare!

As perrrinelli says, you should be get 6 weeks of reablement care free from the local authority, no matter what your finances. I would echo what's been said about more rather than less to start with. You may find that despite your family living with your mum, they will need support & assistance, to give them some respite from caring for her.

During their reablement period, my parents had lots of assessments and are still being offered various physical aids around the house (for free) but didn't qualify for financial help for ongoing care. They now have carers twice a week, it's 12 weeks after DM was discharged & my DF looks exhausted & close to depression but he won't admit it.