Can council funded Alzheimer’s care be arranged nearer to family?

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Mum has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She is pretty good at the moment but I am a forward planner!
She lives in a rental, has about £15,000 in the bank so I am assuming she would have no problem getting council funded care. However she lives 50 miles from me.
Is it possible to get her a council funded place near me if/when we need one? I feel like I have read somewhere that you need to have local links but can’t find specific info online.
Thanks all.

I wish I could give you a clear answer on this but I can’t.

However after having a parent with Alzheimer’s in care for a short time I suspect not easily. The care would be funded by the local council where the resident lives. So whilst her council would gladly give up that financial responsibility I cannot see your council willingly taking on the financial burden for an out of area resident.

you will probably have to move her nearer to you now.

Thanks, that does make sense that my local council wouldn’t want to pick up the bill.
I just don’t want to move her yet, she has great friends where she is and talking to local friends, dementia support is also much better where she is than in my area. Oh, what to do.

If I paid for a while say, do you think my local council might take it on after a certain period of time?
I do absolutely agree with paying for your own care if you can afford it and expect to pay for mine should I need it but to pay for mum for potentially years would be a struggle. It’s so expensive.

I think it depends, but I do know where someone’s LA has paid for a home nearer family outside the LA area. It can even save the LA money (eg London LA paying non London rates elsewhere). But you need the LA to have agreed that the person needs residential care, not the up to 4 cares a day etc.

Oh, so Kent where she lives might agree to pay Essex where I live?
We are nowhere near residential yet and understand that four care visits a day will have to come first, if/when she needs it.
I am a forward planner and I suppose I was wondering if there’s anything I should be doing now to help with her future needs.
Thanks for replying

MIL was in LA funded care and her LA funded place was transferred to another LA so that she could be near us. Two authorities in the West Midlands about 40 miles apart. So yes, it should be possible.

I’m in Scotland so perhaps different but my mum’s LA paid for her to be in a care home in my area so it is possible. They would only pay the basic rate though so I had limited facilities to choose from. In the end she lived for 3 years in a lovely care home just around the corner from me.

I hadn’t even thought of looking at it this way so thanks.
For anyone else, in this position I just did a very quick search and Safari AI says the following. I will obviously look into this further but it seems hopeful

Yes, Kent County Council (KCC) can pay a different local authority (council) for a person’s dementia residential care, provided KCC has assessed the individual and determined they have eligible care needs.1]
Under social care legislation, the "placing" council (Kent) retains financial responsibility for the care costs even if the resident moves into a care home in another council area, particularly if the move is to be closer to family or for a specific care home. 1, 2, 3]

Sorry for attaching the whole policy document. Tried to edit it away but don’t seem to be able to.

We're going back 5+ years ago, but I was told that yes, it is possible. There was a system whereby the parents home council would find them for 2 years in another area, then the new county would take over . . .

I was a forward planner too and we never had to use the scheme, but we were ready . . .

Assume that you have got Power of Attorney in place?

Best of luck

Working on power of attorney thanks. I did do it for my MIL last year so am familiar. Have just had to explain it to mum several times but on Thursday a penny seemed to drop and she decided on her attorneys.
I just now have to get on with the paperwork (next week’s job!)

yes, the la where she is will pay for care when she needs 24 hour care. it may be easier hoever for her to move closer now before she needs 24 hour care and then she will be an ordinary resident in your LA plus you are closer yo assit (should you wish to) as needs increase. Consider extra care housing if she is in rented.

My mother has just been placed in a social care bed 5 hours drive away from me as that's her home council. There was no way I could get her transferred to my council except possibly to take her back to my home and have her live with me then fight for the social care bed in my area. Social Services made it very clear that if I moved her in with me it would take a long time to get the new bed and funding as me housing her would be seen as adequate. I begged my parents to move closer to me and my sister's but they refused and now we are all paying a very high price.

It’s this whole 5 minutes to midnight thing isn’t it with Alzheimer’s?
It’s very early for her and she loves her home and garden and has great local friends who know her diagnosis.
It feels like that (and 10mg of Donepezil) are helping right now so I don’t want to suggest anything too early (or too late)

Thanks everyone, stupid bloody disease.

She can be moved nearer to you but her view will be sought throughout even when she doesn't have capacity and it might be in her best interests to stay nearer her friends and familiar locality. As she will be funded, you have make sure there are L A funded beds in your area that is the same cost as the L A funded beds in her current area.

I succeeded in arranging funded care in another council area for a family member 5 years ago. I chose a care home to use for respite care at first to confirm it served her needs. I was very happy with the care provided. She had a severe learning disability and then early onset dementia.

I discussed it with the home manager and she confirmed that it was possible but councils don’t like to advertise that you have a right to request it. The distance was 20 miles but involved 2 different council areas. The home manager told me they had 2 residents who were originally from over 100 miles away and being funded by their council.
I took the manager’s advice and told social workers that I found a home that suited her needs and that’s where I wanted her to live. The council agreed to funding and it all went ahead very smoothly once they realised that I had been made aware she was entitled to it. This was in Scotland.

Yes, it might be. Had that thought myself, just thinking about options right now before it gets too bad.
Apart from anything she also has other illnesses and is 84, so the whole point might be moot.
Thank you

Yes as a LA social worker in the past I sourced care homes out of our area closer to family, as the placing authority we paid. If she came to live with you permanently then it would be your authority who’d have to fund. (Dependent on financial assessment obvs, including property if she’s making a permanent move into a care home). It was never an issue for us as we were one of the most expensive areas for care homes so were happy to arrange something cheaper out of area. Might be more tricky if your area is more expensive then her “home” LA

It makes no difference to the LA where a person is placed so long as the cost is the same. Her telling you it's a big secret is not true.

I guess I had to come on here and ask people if it was possible means that it’s not that obvious. It wasn’t suggested it was some big secret, just that the councils certainly don’t promote this opportunity

In principle councils will fund care homes out of their area. I think each council has their own policy about the amount they will spend on a placement. Our council funds up to the level of the cheapest placement they can find. This is the indicative budget. The person pays their assessed charge towards this fee and the council pays the rest. If the person or family choose a more expensive placement family or friends have to pay the difference. If you can find a care home near you which is the same price or lower than there should be no problem. If you can’t you’ll have to top up.

And of course she has to meet the criteria for a care home to be the way the council meets her care needs rather than care at home.

Yes my best friend was initially had care in her university city and then moved to a care home near her parents 200ish miles away, still funded by the original authority.
The only thing I don't know is whether there might be an issue if it so happened that the price of the care home in the new authority was significantly more than the price in the original one.

Say in authority 1 a place in a dementia home cost £100 a week
But in authority 2 a place in a dementia home cost £200 a week
Might authority 1 say "we would give you this care for £100, so that is what we will pay. If authority 2 want £200 a week, you will either need to stay in authority 1 or pay the other £100 yourself!"?
No idea on this bit sorry? Can they even charge such different amounts?