Local authority funding for care homes help

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My grandmother has been In hospital for several weeks following a fall, and the general consensus seems to be that she will need to go into a care home as her mobility has been severely impaired. She is in local authority housing and only has minimal savings. From what I've read, the local authority can offer a place in any home within the county that meets her needs, but if we want her to go to one closer to the family, top up payments may be needed. The question is, by "meets her needs" do they just mean physical needs? Or would her need to be close enough for family to visit count? My parents/uncles don't have the finances to top up, but I've read about local authorities demanding top ups when they weren't required. It's a minefield!

The Age UK website has some really useful information about choosing and paying for residential care www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/care-homes
You may find that there's very little choice of homes that don't charge a top up fee I'm afraid.

I'd always suggest going to visit without an appointment, to see what it's like. (but avoid mealtimes if possible) Look at the CQC rating, see how it smells, what the atmosphere is like, ask if you can see a menu, or bring your relative for lunch one day to see what they think.

Thanks, I had read that, and it says if you have savings of less than £14k you won't have to pay anything, which is why the talk of top ups confused me. She has much less than that.

Yes your grandmother won't have to pay anything if she is below the financial charging threshold.

The top ups are '3rd party top ups' which you correctly identified would have to be paid by a 3rd party (your parents/ uncles) if your grandma was placed in a home that charged above what the local authority rates are.

It really depends on what vacancies are available in which homes at the point at which your grandma is ready to be discharged. it might be that there is a care home round the corner from family which accepts local authority rates, or it might be that the nearest one that accepts LA rates is 20 miles away.

If no one can afford to pay a top up it just limits the choices available to you. It's worth being aware though that not all top ups are £100s of pounds a week, some might be £30 ish.

Your family should have been given an information sheet by the local authority explaining all of this.

If she's assessed as not needing to contribute the council pay, but they will only pay a certain amount. If the home you want is more, then someone needs to pay a top up.

Eg a home called Greenfields is available without a top up. The council might pay 490 a week for it. (self funding people may be paying 700 a week for it btw)

But you much prefer Blackfriars home and it costs more. The council still pays 490 a week but family needs to agree to pay an extra 80 per week top up. If no one can pay it then you can't have that one.