Advice on where to start

[Sengah]

Hello,

Glad to find this page. My dad has dementia. We want to move him from his house to a care home in London, where we are. Not really sure where to begin! His local Authority says we have to identify the care home first (and then I guess he has to be accepted by them and there needs to be a place). Stories in the news are scary. Where would you start?

Thanks

A medical assessment by his GP if both are willing?

Will he be self funding or LA funding?

If he's currently living at home he may be OK with an ordinary care home rather than a dementia specialist one. But he's likely to need to need more in future, and a move can be very difficult and cause a sudden cognitive deterioration. So I'd recommend looking for somewhere that can handle higher needs later.

The CQC website will give you a list of homes in your area, with a list of their specialties and all the details of inspection reports. Get a shortlist from there - and personal recommendations if possible - then start visting.

Look for somewhere with low staff turnover, clear signs to navigate the home and show people which is their door, look at menus and activities, observe how the staff interact with residents.

@Sengah

Which part of London would he be needing to relocate to?

Thank you so so much. This is very helpful. He has a little savings but would be LA funding. Does it make a difference on the homes to look at? Are some solely private? The websites go into surprisingly little detail regarding financing.

I’m not sure I follow - do you mean to get a diagnosis? (He already has this.) Or to help with finding a home somehow?

Sadly if he is not self funding it will be very difficult to move him to another LA. Logiclllynthey have limited funding which they will use for their own residents.

@TheSquareMile rather scarily for finances, in an ideal world somewhere in SW - Kingston, Merton, Wandsworth, Richmond if possible. So it isn’t too much trouble to see him regularly. No idea how feasible this would be from the perspective of cost and vacancies.

We wanted to do similar but we're in Scotland. The move could have been arranged but we would need to pay the difference in cost between the 2 local authorities. We don't have the means to pay £1000 extra weekly and mum doesn't have the funds. We don't understand why there is such a vast difference in cost.

He has a little savings but would be LA funding. Does it make a difference on the homes to look at? Are some solely private?

Yes. LAs have an upper limit on what they will pay, homes have a lower limit on what they'll accept - you'll need to find ones that fit in the overlap. In London that may be a very small proportion.

Some won't accept LA funded residents at all. Some will at LA rates. Some will for the LA payment plus a top up - in this case the top up has to be funded by someone other than the resident, you can't use his savings to cover the difference.

And as Flossie says, moving him to a new LA may create extra difficulty. So I'd start by talking to them. See if it's possible at all, and if so whether they have a list of local places that accept LA funded residents.

♥️♥️♥️ so grateful for this advice @NoBinturongsHereMate

Sent you a pm. As you are not self funding I think you will need a social services needs assessment to establish if care needs are sufficient for residential. Then a financial means assessment to establish what contribution if any is payable. Both are slow and I am not sure whether you apply to home LA or LA you would like to move to.

Thanks so much for the DM. It is a good point. I will ring the various LAs to check.