Care for the elderly- the rules re. funding.

[purplepeony]

Can anyone give me a brief summary?
My MIL is currently in hospital ( this tends to happen every few months) due to depression and not eating ( anorexia.) She is 80.

She has improved slightly and the hospital have given her the option of going home but only if she lives downstairs, or into a temporary care home until she is better ( but I doubt that will happen as she refuses food in any situation.)

She wants neither, so we are trying to convince her to go home but live upstairs only- adapting the rooms, and she will then have access to her bathroom.

She currently ( before this blip) has carers 3 times a day, but they are not allowed to help her up and down stairs.- we live 4 hrs away and my BIL lives overseas, and no other family near.

Question is- if she goes into a care home, either short or long term, who pays? NHS or social services, or does her home have to be sold?

She is very drugged up and a bit confused and my DH has power of attorney, so we feel any decision may rest with us.

She has some money in savings but not a lot- probably about £6K.

Hi,

Your MIL's local authority would make an assessment of her physical, social and finanacial needs and tell you whether she is eligible for financial support. If she has critical/substantial needs and less than £23k I think you'll find she'd qualify for some support, but I am not sure how the question of her home affects this.

Please do contact your MIL's social services team as they should help you navigate through the situation. I'd look on the loacl authority web-site to find the relevant contact number. Some LAs have a call centre to filter initial enquiries, others put you straight through to an assessment team. You might need input from a Social Care Assessore/Social Worker, an Occupational Therpaist, a District Nurse and a financial assessor but good teams have these integrated to avoind repeating the info a number of times to different staff.

Good luck.

Thankx

Could she manage a stairlift? This might solve the house problem.

If only- stairs are kind of dog leg and too narrow.

I disagree with sandripples. Who pays depends on whether her needs are health or social care related. If health, it falls within the category of Continuing Health Care (CHC) which is usually administered by the NHS primary care trust where she is resident. It sounds as, despite being elderly and probably frail, her need for care is primarily health related because of her depression and anorexia.

She would be assessed by a CHC nurse and then a decision will be made. If she is currently in hospital, it is unlikley she will be allowed to stay as an inpatient whilst this process is completed if her health needs have stabilised.

I don't know the rules, but it could be that her home will need to be sold to fund care/if she cannot/will not live at home safely. I would ask the hospital today about her discharge planning. They should already have started this process. You do not want to get caught up in Christmas closures etc.

Good luck, it is complex.

We just started in a similar process yesterday. DM getting chucked out of a hospice because she isn't dying quickly enough ffs.

Anyway, we've been told we get 12 weeks paid before the house has to be sold. Alternatively the house isn't sold, but the council take the money from the estate at the end.

Perhaps you could get some help from Age Concern, or one of the mental health charities?

Try not to stress, we've been told that it will move slowly because of Christmas. Fingers crossed for you.