Councils are moving care home residents to save money – and endangering lives

[HollyhocksandPeons]

Councils are moving care home residents to save money – and endangering lives

Don't know what to say - just wanted to flag it up. Heart breaks, literally.

Source: Councils are moving care home residents to save money – and endangering lives

My very elderly dad died last weekend. He died within a week of going into hospital from a stroke. Prior to hospital he had lived at home was mentally ok slightly slower but definitely ok. He and the family made it clear that the doctors were not to try and extend his life as dragging on with no quality of life is miserable. He had the death one would wish for someone they love. The staff in hospital seemed pathetically grateful that we were all so sensible about tjings and not raging about keeping him alive no matter what.

@Mcdhotchocif your mother lacks awareness the quality of care becomes ever more important. We seem to have a viewpoint that there are retirement homes for the self funding population whereas in reality those who are self funding need care. And still need care when funding runs out. The issue is that vulnerable people requiring care that were previously self funded are forced to move with no regard to need. As if moving from a fancy hotel to a B&B with no consideration of care needs.

I’m really sorry for your loss.

Both my parents died in hospital. My dad was quite badly let down by them imo, and should have made it home. But that’s another thread. However there wasn’t any question of them keeping either of them alive longer than they thought. Quite the opposite if anything. My active, independent father was pretty much written off because he was 80.

My family member was in a fabulous home with facilitieslike this at end of life. The care was also outstanding (CQC rated this too). I would be happy to go there myself. It is run by people with nursing backgrounds who really care about the residents and their families. There's absolutely no reason why all homes can't be like this, you just need the right people in place. It shouldn't be such a lottery.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, we should look to other countries to see how they fund and operate their care services. Same for the NHS, the whole thing needs joining back up.

There are too many cracks that people fall through, especially with dementia care. I still don't understand how a degenerative illness is classed as social care when it is a medical condition that requires nursing care as it progresses.

We used to have a rule of 2 years minimum but then it became a scramble of getting anyone in for the shareholders to show how many new residents we had so that rule flew out of the window until we were full, money money money

I don’t think it fair for the council to pay/top up an expensive home while others are sent to the cheaper homes . Otherwise people would send relatives the expensive homes for a few months knowing when they can’t afford it, the council will top up.

We all know what we want but life ain't like that.
My Mum was fit and well and independent. Had a heart bypass at 78. That was a mistake cos no doubt all the cholesterol clogging up her heart was already creating vascular dementia.
She had about another 2 years of her old life, followed by 4 semi decent years in independent living flat.
Had to move her into care due to dementia and falling. A year on, she is still continent and is still just about there. The care is good, great food, stimulating activities every day and she is not in the full dementia unit. She refused any further treatment when they found an ovarian cyst. And was very clear that once she had dementia, she wanted no medical interventions. But does that include the flu jab for example?
The only thing I have learned is that if I am offered bypass surgery in my late 70s I will refuse. I assume that the heart and brain would have given out at the same time.

I think we need to remember that when people speak of care fees, what they are actually speaking of is care & hotel fees, the split is estimated to be 30-40% care fees vs 70-60% hotel costs (room, cleaning, laundry, food, heating etc).

LA funded clients do not get their care for free, all of their income is taken towards the fees, leaving the resident just £31.80 per week in Personal Expenses Allowance. That is possibly a reasonable amount of money for 96 year old Dorris to buy her daily paper, toiletries, & fund her monthly hair cut.

What about a 30 year old Sarah, admitted to a nursing home, but still wishes to have some semblance of a normal life? Transport provided by homes is often very restricted, if available at all, she stands no chance. Note, residents like Sarah can be shipped hours from family & friends due to limited placements willing to take younger adults.

Nothing in life is free, & the system of charging more to privately funded clients vs LA funded isn't reasonable, but I am glad my parents will have he option to choose a better home if they needed it rather than getting dumped in the only place the LA can source because the NHS need their bed back.

I would also say that a lot of the most expensive placements only take residents with lower needs. Heaven forbid their client need more than basic nursing care. I've seen notice given within hours of a client being admitted to hospital & there is no recourse.

Nursing home residents can be given notice for anything, including behaviour of family.

One thing I do agree with is private funders should not expect to stay in excessively expensive homes funded by the LA. Clients & their families need to seriously think about how long their funds will last before signing any contract. Every LA is under enough pressure without finding luxury choices.