Dad needs a care home

[Orangesandlemons77]

My dad has dementia and is in need of a care home now. He's really struggling and carers coming in isn't enough.

He's got about 10K in savings and is renting. What would happen when his savings are used up? We've tried asking for a needs assessment from social services but it is taking forever.

Will the council take over finding from then on?

At 10k he is already below the level of savings to get full funding. They will ask him to pay some of his pension towards fees, but not his savings.

OK, he is waiting on an assessment, he is in Scotland, but they have not done it yet after months and he is declining. His GP is supportive

Is there anything we can do to get them to do it? / get a care home sorted out?
I wondered if he just used the savings at least he would be in one and then might see how much he needs it.

I'm not familiar with the specifics in Scotland, but dropping in the words 'unsafe' and 'safeguarding concern' tends to speed things up.

I think you'd have trouble getting a care home to take him on a private basis - they tend to want proof of funds for longer than his would last.

Sadly £10k is barely 2 months worth of fees

My mums care home fees in Edinburgh started at £6k a month and last summer were about £7k a month. She’s now run out of savings and is funded by local authority. You need to provide the care home evidence that you can afford at least 2 years of paying privately before they will consider you. Therefore you need to push the social care and keep in top of this. Tbh, they are so stretched it’s really hard as it feels like no one cares.

www.careinfoscotland.scot/topics/care-homes/paying-care-home-fees/capital-limits/

www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/practical-support/needs-assessment/

Are the carers publicly funded? You could ask them if they could raise their concerns (again highlighting safety and safeguarding) back to social services. It may help move things along a bit quicker. Good luck.

Thanks, yes they are funded

Looking at 2 weeks respite care pain for with the AA, as a starting point.

Ok yes that is how it seems. The GP was saying dad is particularly vulnerable as he has specific needs and I wonder if them writing a letter might help. There is also a dementia outreach team on the local council website, any idea if something like that might be of help?

I’m not sure about the outreach team as my Mum was unwell during Covid so no one would come out. I would contact them and see what they say. Everyone is super helpful but as I said, just stretched. It’s good to show you’ve tried everything. Do mention he’s a risk to himself and you’re worried about him wandering off and he’s on his own. They won’t automatically know this. I ended up phoning lots of people and being a bit of a pest. I’m still shocked though that however many support services etc there might be for dementia you are ultimately on your own.

Yes I might try making a few phone calls, I know my brother nearby has already tried though. Maybe could get the GP to write a letter, and his sheltered housing warden perhaps (she did one for his attendance allowance)

He's really struggling with his mobility, uses a walker and thankfully is in a ground floor sheltered flat with a 'wet room' but then he e.g. forgets he needs the walker and falls over in the shared hallway. Forgets he has called with his call buzzer, and does that again etc, has incontinence but refused to wear the pants, it's really tricky. (as I am sure you all know)

Sorry for repeating stuff, I'm awaiting a memory clinic appt myself :-( I don't think the stress helps

In my experience until he is assessed as needing 24 hour care, you wont be able to get him into a home, that's without a pot of gold to pay outright. I'm also in Scotland and the level of care needed to 'qualify' is horrendous - if they sleep at night, even for a short time, they are deemed as not needing 24 care. We had a long hard fight to get a place for a relative and speaking to other relatives in the home, it sounds like the usual, when I actually thought we were just unlucky. The fastest way is by far a crisis, until you hit that point they won't even look at you. We had weeks in hospital and despite very obvious care needs, carers 4 times a day were deemed adequate upon discharge. The distress of an old, confused lady banging on the door to get out when carers left wasn't considered a 'care need' and it took a catalogue of dangerous behaviours before a care home move was approved

Sorry posted too soon, I did mean to say good luck, and I totally feel your frustration

Ok, thanks sevsal sounds familiar. I guess he does qualify as needing help at night as his mobility and incontinence are so bad, he currently gets the lower amount of AA, I wonder if getting the higher amount would 'prove' he needs care overnight? It's a minefield.

I've emailed a letter to the social services dept and they say they will update his records with his needs and hopefully he will get an assessment soon. Fingers crossed.

Just updating, he's gone in for two weeks respite care at a cost of 2K per week. Still awaiting assessment.

Just to update this, dad got assessed as was in hospital with pneumonia, then went to a rehab hospital in Scotland for 6 weeks, after this got a funded care home place and is quite happy.

Thanks for your replies.

That's good to hear that it has all worked out for you both.