Care Home - funding for extras

[nokitchen]

Hello, not sure where to ask for this. My sibling is in a care home, solely funded by council. I told them I will buy extra things, such as pay for holidays, special furniture etc, but have been asked to pay for new glasses following a sight test. If someone's in a care home would this normally be paid for from their benefits? They receive PIP and a pension and all this is looked after by the home. I've no idea what is reasonable

The pension and PIP probably all go towards the fees, but she should be left with an allowance of £24pw which could be used for glasses.

I would only expect the sight test to be paid for. Do they qualify for free glasses.

Certain frames (£60 and under) are free if you are entitled to free eye care on the NHS. However if the prescription of the lens is thick they can require thinning to put into the frames which is not included. This can be around £40 I think.

There has to be a policy somewhere about this. I would have thought it should come out of your relatives income rather than yours?

I don't think you should be paying for glasses. It's a healthcare cost /need so should come out of your relatives income.

If you refused to pay would the home just allow your relative to go without such a necessity?

You need to find out the legalities and policies but I hope it isn't right that you have to pay.

This is what I'm wondering. I don't want to get to the stage that I'm sending cash all the time for something that should be paid for from their benefits. Especially as he breaks glasses constantly and will need multiple pairs throughout the year.

www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/

www.england.nhs.uk/south-east/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/02/290226-NHS-GOS-Sight-Test-and-Voucher-Eligibility.pdf

If someone is in a care home for 12 weeks before the test then they, according to the home visit team for specsavers, qualify for free sight tests. Glasses do have to be paid for either by a qualifying Gos3 voucher (& any extra costs paid for) or in full if not eligible for a voucher.

We just had to pay for DF now he is in a home but the sight test was free. There is a domiciliary fee to pay on top though.

Hmm ask for a copy of the prescription we had this with FIL and it turned out all he needed was a pair of readers which got from the chemist for £10 not the £100 suggested by the optician

Strike. Thanks. I made a mistake and meant to write only the sight test is free.

Oh thank you all. This is a leap in the dark for me. He lived at home with mum til she died and now I'm suddenly responsible by default for him.

Are you happy to take on the responsibility of his care. Do you have power of attorney or does he want you to help.

Talk to his social worker for extra advice, money is set aside from his benefits for his day to day costs. If he's under 65 there's additional arrangements too, you shouldn't have to pay for anything.

Dsd lives in a care situation and has more money than me!

No I don't want power of attorney or any responsibility for his care. The home isn't near to me and I've made it clear to his social worker and the care home manager that I don't want to be involved in his finances. I just want to be his sister and visit sometimes and will also pay for any treats because I'm his nearest relative. He's late sixties.

Does he have capacity to make the decision for the optician to order new glasses and is he happy yo pay for them. You have no poa and the home know you do not wish to get involved with the finances so either he pays or the home social worker sort it out.

So who IS taking charge of his finances?
My stepfather is in a home - his pension pays towards his fees but he has £24 a week ‘spare’. The pension is paid to me now and I pay his fees. I have set up a Direct DEbit of£20 a month to his care home for sundries - haircut, toiletries, treats. His glasses should come out of this money.

Presumably his finances were discussed when he moved in to the home.

I understand he is entitled to a free eye test and help with cost of glasses under the NHS Low Income Scheme. This is available to all care home residents who the local authority are assisting with fees. He has to apply for a Certificate . Home or Social Worker should help him with this. He should not have been allowed to miss out on this.

Once he has the Certificate, he will be issue a voucher towards cost of glasses. If the glasses need repaired or replaced - he gets help with that too.

He might be left out of pocket if - as is common - the voucher won't cover the cost of the spectacles.

He could be spending all his personal allowance every week. It went up to £31 this year. I've known some homes charge the lot for toiletries and sundries.

£31 is the minimum Personal Allowance. Local Authorities have the discretion to increase the amount. I'd be looking for an increase to cover the costs of his glasses so far as not covered by NHS Low Income Scheme.

@Soontobe60 I've repeatedly asked his social worker to get the necessary official paperwork done for social services to look after his finances. It's certainly not something I want to be involved with. I'm going to visit him next week so I'll ask for a meeting with the home manager to get this clarified. He was an emergency placement at the home when mum died so nothing was sorted in advance.

It isn’t a simple as that. If he still has capacity, he could appoint someone to be his POA, but I’m not sure if a social worker can do that. If he doesn’t have capacity, then an application would have to be made to the court of protection for Deputyship. This is a costly process. What may possibly end up happening is that he has a financial assessment to determine what he needs to pay for his care, and eventually when he does this will be recouped from his estate. So the care home may not actually have access to his pension, hence them requesting you pay for his glasses.

He's not got capacity and never has had. I'll check with the care home what the situation is when I visit this week

The care home should be managing his money-glasses under a certain price should be free from the NHS.

Thats right about poa, if he lacks capacity the carehome or social worker have to arrange to apply for deputyship or they may assume you will, ask what was in place before with your mum as poa ceases when someone has died.