Urgent question re Cost of home visit carers

You need to have less than £23,250 in savings to qualify for free home care in England, otherwise you do have to pay, usually after the first six weeks if there is a hospital discharge scheme in place. My mum has a Local Authority carer in the mornings, she initially had two visits on discharge from hospital, but was reassessed by the Care Team manager after six weeks, and it was agreed one visit would be enough. She is not immobile though, normally four visits would be needed for people who are, as they need more personal care.

Thanks. Yes he has more than the savings allowed so has to pay. It is the actual cost that is frightening her so hopefully soneone who is paying for this level of support for home care assisants in the greater london area will have some information to share,The six weeks weeks paid for runs out shortly. He cant walk and the carers get him up and into the lounge and do personal care.

You would be looking at around 25 an hour per carer ( obviously they don't earn that...but thats what agency charge) ...so that would be £50 an hour for 2 .....so do the maths really....it would be 28 visits a week so that 56 carer visits ....not sure how long a visit would be? ...its not cheap....once the money in bank runs done then local authority will pay

Ps I'm north west

If your friends illness is life- limiting see if your local hospitals have a Hospice at home service, which I was able to access when my husband was very sick. They came to our home and gave all the care needed and access to Marie Curie nurses who came to relieve me at night so I could get some rest. It was all free and made his last weeks easier for him as he wasn’t worrying about me all the time.

Thanks for the reply. Not terminal and we are greater london. So at twenty five per hour thats fourteen hundred per week..thats even worse and we are greater london so possibly more than north west. Eye watering costs.

Might not need full hour visits though? ...around here you can have a 30 min visit....if its for giving meds etc ....any more than 30 mins eg 45 ....then you pay for a full hour

I will suggest she queries whether any visits can be half hour.

Might be worth looking at Care To Be Different website.

I will tell her about the care to be different site thanks

We found that to be the case. Cheaper in a care home. That’s what we found.

Mt61.. i am shocked at the cost of home carers. Hopefully her husband will need less than four visits per day if he makes some improvement in his mobility.

He will be eligible for attendance allowance, his wife will get carers allowance.
This will go a long way towards care.

4 a day is usual but they aren't for an hour usually.

45 minutes to get up/go to bed and two visits in between for "toileting" if needs are quite heavy.
The in between visits are usually 30 minutes I think.

In my area (not London), care like this is £37 (one agency) or £28 (another agency) per person per hour.
If he needs two people it is obviously double.

So £1200 is likely I think.

I am unable to add to this thread but I am shocked by what I am reading.
My parents never lived long enough to need care of this level so I have been ignorant of how this system works and the costs.

It seems so wrong to me that a person clearly in need of help has to watch their savings disappear at an alarming rate. Is there a level where that person can claim for free care? Surely they don't leave them with nothing.
This is an eye-opener to me and I sincerely hope Newdawn and others in her position find a solution.

A live-in carer (with 2 hours off a day) costs about this too if employed privately.
£1200 a week.
But twice this through an agency as they do all the DBS and training and insurance checks etc.

The NHS has a scheme called CHC continuing Health care - they will pick up care costs if Health based. Not means tested

CHC is hard to get - I managed to get it on appeal for my OH. It is essentially health service funding and relies on very detailed criteria. If he meets those then there is no cost at all. Check out beaconchc.co.uk/how-we-can-help/free-information-and-advice-on-nhs-continuing-healthcare/

You do not have to have the 4 visits a day if you do not feel this is necessary and he is paying for himself.

Sago

He will be eligible for attendance allowance, his wife will get carers allowance.
This will go a long way towards care.

You don't get Carers allowance if you are over pension age, he will be eligible for either PIP ( under pension age) or Attendance Allowance if over.

Attendance allowance £110.40 a week (higher rate).

SuzieHi

The NHS has a scheme called CHC continuing Health care - they will pick up care costs if Health based. Not means tested

The NHS does not fund people who do not need qualified nursing care though, so if assistance with dressing and personal care is the main requirement to enable somebody to live at home, the NHS would not be liable for the costs. Most people living at home only need the level of nursing care that can be provided by district nursing teams visiting, or if they have dementia, by community mental health services,

I think people who are at end of life care, get free care.
My dad had diabetes & Alzheimer’s but wasn’t classed as end of life, I personally think he should have been. Especially when he went down hill after receiving a fella in the next bed, blood transfusion by mistake- hospital negligence nearly killed him. He never spoke again 😔

As it’s early days, I’d suggest get the care in place that’s been advised, see how things go in say, a month and then look to reducing hours if circumstances allow.
Good care is expensive but so is everything else. Spend the money making life easier- can’t take it with you.