OK - another grrr!!!

tooyoungtobeagranny I can help you with one of your wishes ??

Council Tax for me. I'm trying to pay several months in advance but there isn't the facility through online payments.

This is after MONTHS of hounding when I missed a payment a few months ago.

Icanhandthemback.So frustrating ! But as with most of these things if it was simple, they'd be able to manage with half the staff you and me are keeping them working .

Sarah, I didn't ring today, it was New years eve.I would have expected DWP and hospitals to be open, most other people were working including me.

Bless you Polnan. x

My friend went into a Quaker owned care home and it seemed quite a nice one when I visited. As it was charity run, it was a bit cheaper too. He had an en suite room, the meals looked very good and the staff were very caring and approachable, and you could come and go as you pleased.

It might be worth investigating if there is one in your area, if anyone ever needed care. You don't have to be a member of that religion to go there.

I reapplied for my Blue Badge on the day the renewal came in as they informed me that it could take up to 10 weeks to get the replacement. 14 weeks later, having given them all the information they required in reapplication, I rang them to see what had happened and why I didn't have a valid Blue Badge to use over the Christmas period. No apologies, no understanding but an "It will take as long as it takes."
The new rules have caused an influx but the powers that be knew that so should have done something to meet that expectation. Apparently, although I am a reapplication with the up to date evidence, the whole process has to be run from scratch even though nothing has changed and, if anything, will get worse. What an absolute fiasco for what should be a tick box exercise!
Contrast this with the CEA card to take your carer to the cinema for free. I reapplied using the same procedure as the Blue Badge and with the same evidence. Less than a week later, the printed credit style card, complete with my photograph, arrived in the post. Something somewhere needs looking at!

It is worth saying that ALL homes are visited , inspected and given a grade by the CQC.
Such homes with rooms like kennels etc woud be made to clean up their act or closed down.

Katyj
Just been informed by a 'learned '! friend you can apply for a blue badge on line. Try Gov.uk. The dwp as far as I know do not issue these.Could be wrong?

Katyj
Patience ! it is new years day and the DWP and like anything official you will find closed. You should have no difficulty come tomorrow.

I would just like to say that there are good and sadly, bad, in homes costing a fortune, and 'cheap' ones.

Of course its lovely if a place can provide spacious, airy accommodation, but that isn't a measure of the type of care a person will get.

My fathet went into a home when his alzheimers became to much for my mum to cope with. They had no savings and lived in a council house so fully funded by the LA. It was and is a fabulous home with outstanding care. No fancy rooms (he shared with 2 other gents) and just one large lounge for residents to sit in but the staff were lovely. My fil had a lot of money (they saved just in case) & was in a home costing £1200 a week with dementia care. It was horrible, the staff were uncaring and it has been inspected since his death and found to be wanting in many areas. They are still quibbling over fees some four years on and solicitors are fighting for refunds as they charged when the extra care required should have been free. I have told my children that I do not ever want to go into a home and that they are to remind me to "take my tablets" should the time come where that sort of decision needs to be made. Once my divorce is sorted and I have found somewhere to live I may well spend any money that may be left on sun, sea and doing the things that I want to do but didn't as have always put everyone elses wishes and needs first. I hooe to soend whatever time I have left looking after me (and my animals) and trying things I've never done before, art classes, walking rescue dogs, learning to salsa, smoking weed ?

It will be a "technical" problem or perhaps to do with end of year accounting though LAs usually work to end of financial year ie end March /beg April. You have proof of payment so you shouldn't worry. As for those care homes that don't take third part contributions, why are they worse than dog kennels? Surely the care has to meet the same standards no matter where. Some may not have such plush surroundings but it doesn't mean the care isn't good, surely.

I would be furious too, but if it is a genuine mistake on their behalf the problem should be solved now.

If you receive another demand notice for this amount, I would feel inclined to get a solicitor to contact them - that usually scares any local authority into behaving properly.

Jishere
Behind every computer is a living breathing human being.
I had been forced due to local authority 'mistakes'! to request my bank send me monthly bank statement print outs as proof , and cannot be disputed, that my council tax payments are up to date.

blue badge[if for parking] is done via local council and can be done online. takes 3-8 weeks.

Thank you NfkDumpling - this comfort is coming at a huge cost, but we would countenance so less. My heart goes out to those who have no relatives to back them up nor house to sell to pay the top-up.

The irony of course is that OH is now beyond realising this and gives me a fair bit of grief when I go in. I am giving visiting a miss today - but 3 girls around to take my place.

Sounds perfect Lucky. Mr L is fortunate to have you and yours ready to fight his corner. Hopefully (come the revolution) one day, all homes will be like that.

Where OH is his room looks like a normal bed-sitting room, with big french doors, an en suite wet room, small lounges that look just like home, a cafe area (where residents socialise, read the paper, have a cup of coffee), a bar, full time 7 days a week activities organisers etc. That is how it should be.

georgia101 - many moons ago when I worked for SSD there were several wonderful LA run homes. I knew that anyone going there would be well cared for and that the staff would be well trained and supported and work under decent conditions.

However in most ares now there are no LA run homes at all. They are all private. And the amount that LA is prepared to pay precludes any of the decent homes without a relative paying a top-up. In fact it precludes most.

One home I looked at that was a lower fee than where OH is - but would still have required a £500 a week top-up - was like a prison. The nursing beds were all downstairs - accessed via a tiny dark lift with clanging iron mesh doors; the corridors were just about wide enough for a wheelchair - but only just - and the tiny rooms with lino floors and iron hospital beds and no light and tiny windows - well I could go on. I am sure you are getting the picture.

When my friend's husbands's dementia became too much for her to cope with, she began looking for suitable care homes. We are lucky in Scotland that a certain amount of elderly care is Government funded.

She took a retired social worker with her on inspection of said homes, with DH in tow because she couldn't leave him and she wanted him to see the places and meet the people running them as well as the other residents.
She was sad to report to me that in only one of these homes did anyone ask to meet her DH, to talk to him and to make him feel welcome..This was the place they chose. Another good point was that they had very little staff turnover since it had first opened.

He was as happy as he could be in the circumstances and she was infinitely more relaxed.

Can I just say that some care homes provided by the local authority are really good ones. I must admit the sad tales from a huge amount of sources are very worrying, but I used to work in a lovely one, where the residents were happy and looked after really well, and their families often praised us for the care we gave. The smell of urine was sometimes obvious - particularly first thing in the mornings, but this was very, very quickly dealt with, and the management kept on top of every aspect of the running of the home in a manner that made me say I'd have no hesitation in placing my own father in there - as indeed he did eventually. Sometimes it's only the bad stories that we hear about so please don't be too afraid of the future in care homes for ourselves or a family member. Hopefully there's a choice of homes, but go and have a good look around, and if possible, talk to residents and their families to get a fuller picture.

Yes they get "looked after "for "free" , but not what you would want for anyone you care about !

I think you will find they will just say that this overlapped with your payment. Alot of these letters are computer generised and are just fired off. You have the prove that you paid.

I accept we have to pay for our care but it annoys me that lazy people (I do not mean ill or disabled) those who have had everything paid for and claimed every benefit possible and maybe sneakily working as well, get looked after for free.
Best wishes to all sorting out care for loved ones.