Sheltered housing or live-in carer?

[HappyPrince]

We are in the process of trying to relocate my father in law, who has Parkinsons, to London so he can be closer to us. During his most recent spell in hospital we looked at our local Care Home, which charges an eye-watering £1,300 a week. We then spoke to a lovely nurse at the hospital who said that he did not need full time medical care and he should be able to live in a sheltered housing set up (a slightly more reasonable £1,300 a month!). However my father-in-law's solicitor has advised buying a flat for him and employing a live-in-carer. If we did this and my father-in-law had to go into permanent care we would then plan to rent the flat to help pay for costs. Has anyone out there done a similar thing? Would you recommend it? What are the pitfalls? Obviously we are worried about the potential for abuse/neglect with a live-in carer, especially in light of recent news stories but we have heard some positive stories too. Any advice?

Hello If you still need anymore information on live in care private message me x

Hi there, you may want to look at the CQC rating of providers to help gauge if they are any good. I know a few home care providers have an outstanding rating, which is the highest you can get,

I have heard good things about The Good Care Group, www.thegoodcaregroup.com/

With a live in carer you will also have to employ someone to cover their days off, holidays, sickness and arrange some sort of shift work. How about he buys a warden flat where there is safety equipment already installed, a warden to keep an eye on him and then arrange private carers to come in. I would ask for a chc assessment from the local social services, maybe the parkinsons care nurse might help, to see how much help he actually needs. What happens if he buys a flat, moves into care then can't sell the flat, the rent may not cover the costs, 1.3k a week is normal where I live. It's best to look to the future, he doesn't want to have to keep moving.

An alternative to employing a single live in Carer would be to go through an agency who will supply live in carers in s rota, usually fortnightly. We have had good results with
Country Cousins and Bluebird, both of which are franchises so can vary a lot.

MIne is in very sheltered, so 24 hour warden, plus lots of support like a reception from 6.00am to 10.00pm, restaurant and laundry service.

She had to buy her flat but after that service charges are reasonable. (She is paying abou £1000pcm for everything including lunch and laundry.) Dm can then get away with three carer calls a day, even though she is very disabled with Alzheimers.

Her flat is run by a firm called retirement security ltd, who have a couple of blocks in London, but there are apparently other similar providers. The flats are popular so resale is not a problem.

The BIG advantages of sheltered housing are:

1. company and activities, so much easier than being on your own with a carer.

1. Management and support. When I was making a similar decision six years ago my GP cousin suggested that live in carers tended to be binary, either very good or not good at all. Sheltered housing provides a whole structure, so I dont need to get as involved in the quality of her care, plus I have access to experienced and informed professionals.