What happens if you only have 2 or 3 years self funding,do they kick you out?

[LoafofSellotape]

Mum is in a rehab. Been in hospital since March,had a disasterous discharge with a care package of 4 x a day and after 2 weeks was back in hospital.

She has about 40k in savings and a flat worth about 200k which can be sold.

Her social worker rang me today and said a referral has been made for a nursing home. I went to view it this afternoon and is was so disgusting I am ringing the social worker tomorrow and not only refusing it but asking her how to report it.

Anyway,this is all happening really fast and I'm confused as to what happens when the money runs out. If mum went into a home and after a couple of years the money runs out, does she have to move? We can't afford to top up. I read you have to negotiate with the care home?

Any info would be really helpful. I'm so upset by the home today ,I just want to cry. I don't mind shabby but the door was hanging off, the banister wasn't safe,the ceiling was hanging down and wall paper was hanging off the walls . It was like a really disgusting student digs from years ago before they got all fancy and smart.

TIA 😊

Barchester Care Homes wanted proof of at least 2 years fees in liquid assets before they would consider offering a place. They kindly pointed out that most residencies were for 7 - 17 months & in this case it was true.

Yes a private nursing home can ask you to leave if a funding agreement cannot be reached.
Council rate is often lower than the most private homes' fee.
Private nursing homes usually charge more than councils pay. If there is a shortfall the home may ask for a Third-Party Top-Up Fee. This must be paid by a family member, friend or charity.
Private care isn't an option for all patients. Maybe visit some other homes before making a decision.

Thank you, will definitely be visiting others.

If you choose a home which takes private and council funded residents, they will sometimes agree in advance that when the funds run out, they will keep your family member on as a council funded resident. The downside of this is that when you are in funds, you are cross subsidising the council placements.

I listened to a consumer program about this very recently. See if you can find it via BBC Sounds. The program is called "You and Yours", and the episode was aired on 17th June.

They had a care home manager giving some very good advice for this situation. My memory is that there's a very under-utilised rule, which says that the LA MUST do an assessment of the resident when their money runs out. If that assessment suggests it would be detrimental to move her to another home, they must pay the fees for her current home, even if it's more than their usual budget. Apparently, a lot of times, the family do not know this, and just move. I might have it a bit wrong, so please listen to it!

It depends on the care home. My mother self-funded for several years, her money ran out and she was SS funded for the last 18 months. Her care home was independently owned rather than a chain, and they always said they would try to keep her there.

When your mum's money runs out, you don't have to negotiate with the care home. You contact Social Services and fill in the forms they send you. SS will ask if you can pay a top up, you say no and all negotiations are then between them and the care home.

Nowadays there are very few council owned care homes so SS mainly deal with private homes which accept SS funded clients. As long as you don't choose one which is ridiculously expensive, they will probably keep her there.

In theory my mother's LA paid £623 p.w. for a placement. In practice they negotiated upwards to £1100 because that was the minimum the care home would accept (and no other care home would accept her for less).

I used to deal with these sorts of situations for the LA I worked for. Not a fun job ☹️
in theory yes, if the money runs out and the home won’t accept the councils rate AND the council have another option that meets your mums needs and is cheaper, then she might have to move.

i personally would try to avoid this and sometimes the care home would accept the councils rate, sometimes it might mean moving to a smaller room or something. In that case your mum wouldn’t notice a change and the council would just take over funding.

sometimes I’d be able to make a case that it was a little more expensive than an alternative but would be very detrimental to the person to move eg because of ease of family visiting.

sometimes there’d be a ridiculously expensive home where there was no way someone could stay, so if a wealthy family member didn’t step in to fill the gap the person would have to move.

To avoid this and give peace of mind I’d recommend if possible asking the home at the point of admission if they also have people funded by the council there and accept their rates. Few councils run their own homes now so are mostly paying for beds in private homes.

If it does come to that in a few years time, then kicking up a stink, complaining to MP, councillor etc can often be effective!

We've had such a rollercoaster of a day. We refused the one we saw yesterday and suggested to SS that they don't refer anyone there until someone has gone round to look at the state it's in. My sister described it as like the house in the film Fight Club and she wasn't exaggerating.

This morning we viewed a lovely one and mum moves in tomorrow. Such a relief. It's for respite for 6 weeks initially then an assessment will be done but I can't see her moving home again and nor does she want to. They take both private and social funding.

Interestingly that happened today. There were negotiations between the social worker and the home and they lowered the price.

if you are genuinely concerned about what you witnessed you should also report it to CQC. The people who live there may not have family who can do this for them.

That’s great news and I’m glad you spoke up about the other home.

I did.