Care home placement

[flygirl767]

Hi I can't find my old thread re DM but briefly, she was admitted to an acute MH unit 10 weeks ago suffering from delirium which has now subsided. We had a discharge meeting 3 weeks ago with SW and it was agreed with the consultant that she could move to a care home for 4 weeks respite care with a view to going home with a full care package. As she was on a S3, her care will be funded.

Nothing from SW until last week where she was offered a possible placement in a CH in a town not local to either of us. CQC scores were not good so I declined. Today I've been told to look at another home in the same chain which has even worse scores, 4 requires improvements and 1 inadequate. The thing is it is all taking so long. Mum needs to get out of hospital and I can just see this taking forever with them offering me awful homes and me declining them. I have seen a home who have room and will accept council funding but the SW says they have to offer me placements with in the group of homes that they have a contract with. Can I insist on this home or do I just have to sit it out? I am getting the feeling they take so long so that you get desperate and eventually accept one of their crappy homes! However I am beginning to wonder if we should just accept another home just to get mum off the MH ward.

I am so stressed by all this, SW doesn't even sound that clued up on it and is impossible to get hold of. She communicates by message only, you can never get to speak to her. Does anyone have experience of this or any advice please?

Hi
We are going through this process ourselves (nursing home). It sounds like different councils act very differently!
When we first started looking I asked the council to give me a list of all the homes they typically place residents in. They were reluctant but I pointed out I was shooting in the dark with looking around if I didn't have somewhere to start.
Further on in the process our SW said our council would not offer anything rated below GOOD by CQC. They explained the procedure was that they use a broker to find a suitable placement who comes back with a few choices. If there were any homes we had visited / knew about we could also say, although it may not be within budget / have vacancies. They do work with certain homes, but are open to work with others. Has your SW outlined the exact process by which they place residents?

Similarly, the nursing homes I spoke to told me the council might say there is no choice, but quote there is always a choice unquote. Negotiations take place between nursing home and council, depending on needs and budget etc.

The care home that you contacted - is there any history of them taking council funded from your particular council?

I wish I could help further. As I said, am in the process too. I hope someone here who has gone through the whole process can help. Hope it works out for you.

@faw2009 thank you for your reply and sorry you are going through this too. When I met the SW initially, she did explain that the CC use a group of homes and these would be offered to me first. She did say they mostly do not have good CQC scores and I was within my rights to refuse them. She encouraged me to go and look at other CH's and let her know any I liked and she would pass them on to the placement team.

The home I visited do take council funded places, she showed me the size of the room though which they would cover entirely and it was the size of a shoe box so I think we would top up to get a bigger room. How long has it taken you so far? I thought they would be keen to get mum out of hospital as MH beds are in such short supply but they do seem very slow.

Hi
it took 2 weeks for them to assign our case to a social worker I think and since end July we've been talking to the SW, with her checking my dad's wishes, getting approval, putting to broker...we're currently at the stage of being offered a few homes. So I think at least a month so far. Bless our SW, she got approvals through before various managers went on holiday.

Does your SW know you are willing to top up?

Fly it’s time consuming but your own legwork will pay off. Go and see every care home you possibly can in these Covid times and tell the SW the best two. Phone ahead avoiding meal times and see who will let you in. Often you can be surprised. Look for lovely staff and evidence of lots of activity that will occupy DM. If you have a dog then ask the dog walkers In your park for recommendations- that’s where my best tips came from

Well what a difference a different social worker makes-mine went on holiday and was covered by someone else. She rang me (shock horror!) and within 24 hours, mum was confirmed in a home of my choice for 2 weeks while they set up care at home. I can't tell you how relieved I am!

Mum moved yesterday afternoon and is in isolation for 14 days which is a shame but no way round it. The care home staff sound absolutely lovely and I am confident she will be wel looked after.

Fab news. Hope DM continues to make progress and the peace of mind gives you a little bit less worry

Excellent news!