• Take care when choosing a care home and try to visit potential homes unannounced.  When you’ve chosen a home, keep an eye on care standards and read any new inspection reports.
• Consider a place in a retirement village or extra care accommodation as an alternative to residential care.  Remember that personal care at home may become free from October 2010.
• When talking to social services about care needs, be very specific and describe the ‘worst case scenario’ rather than being stoical about requirements such as dressing and feeding.
• Watch out for an increase in care costs if you move your relative nearer to your home and into a different local authority area.  Their original authority will still fund the same level of care and if care costs are more expensive in your area, you will have to cover the difference.
• Take advice from a financial consultant that is experienced in dealing with elderly matters and will take all relevant factors into account.

The Independent reports on the difficulties faced by the UK’s disabled adult population, many of whom rely on charities to fund basic essentials due to gaps in social services funding. The information has come to light further to research undertaken by Shelter & Capability Scotland, which will publish its findings in summer 2009. Their report, entitled ‘Fit for purpose’, describes the lack of advice, long waiting lists and limited funds that disabled people struggle against when trying to trying to find or adapt suitable housing or enter the job market. The report’s authors blame the problems on a disparity between official Government policy and the practical realities.

The article goes on to discuss the Government’s past failure to ratify the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities – it will ratify the Convention this year, but wants to opt out of ‘several unworkable areas.’ Alice Maynard of the charity Scope comments that the Government’s action ‘…reinforces the view that disabled people are not seen as equal to others and that it’s OK for other people to decide where they can and cannot be seen.’ The Independent then presents several case studies of disabled people who describe their struggles against bureaucracy, poor facilities and lack of support from social services.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
11:30

The Independent’s website has published a brief guide to navigating Britain’s care system to help people get the financial help that they are entitled to. The article gives an overview of the key problems that people face when trying to obtain care funding, such as the ‘postcode lottery’, lack of PCT and local authority resources and the difficulties of obtaining the correct information. It then explains the difference between personal care and nursing care and when these will be paid for by the local authority or PCT. The article gives a description of the care needs assessment carried out by a local authority when a person enters a care home as well as mentioning benefits that people with care needs are entitled to, such as attendance allowance. It then stresses the importance of taking advice on how to fund any necessary fees and includes a case study entitled ‘I’m glad I took advice.’ The article is followed by commentary from The Independent’s Personal Finance Editor, James Daley, who uses the experience of a close relative to expose how ‘complex and unfair’ the current care system is.

For more information on care funding, care home assessments and benefits, please see Cheselden’s Factsheets 7 and 8. If you feel that you have been unfairly assessed as not qualifying for continuing care funding, please click here to contact us about your case.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
11:15