Kate Garroway-Care at home costs

Although I do have a lot of sympathy with Kate Garraway and her financial situation, I have always felt very uneasy about the level of personal details whichever have featured in the documentaries.

Now I see there’s another one on tonight, filmed during the last few weeks and months of her husband’s life.

Was he really able to give his consent to a tv crew in his house, filmic him lying helpless in bed?

Correction …. They paid £1,000 a WEEK for 3 months! Trying to do too many things at once, sorry.

Germanshepherdsmum

That’s true Urms. But having made those choices, I do find it a bit distasteful that she then complains about what they have cost her.

Agree again GSM.
That said maybe Mexico isn’t part of the eye watering debt. I don’t suppose she, Derek, equipment and a care team could fly out ‘on tick’.

I think she is highlighting a very important topic so that’s a good thing.

He should have been eligible for NHS continuing health care even though he was at home I believe. You can apply to be fast tracked if the patient’s condition deteriorates. I got this for my Mum for the last 4 months of her life in a care home.

Very few nurses and Doctors actually know about this as it’s a well kept secret. When Mum was in hospital the nurses and even the Matron were pretty hopeless when I enquired. I filled out the forms, they then looked at them and marked Mum down and said she wasn’t eligible. At that time I was exhausted and regret not pursuing it then.

I spoke to her GP about it when she was at the Care home and he said he knew nothing about fast track Continuing Health Care so I told him what I knew and I said if I got the forms and completed them would he sign them. He agreed so I went ahead and within a week the NHS confirmed they would pay for her care. So they paid about £4000 for her last 4 months. TBH I wish I had done it sooner.

annsixty we all misread… 😀
Yes Kate G does earn a massive salary.. but in her interview she said she was ashamed of being in debt.. I can understand that.. will watch the full documentary tonight - Derek wanted apparently to ‘tell his own story’

That’s true Urms. But having made those choices, I do find it a bit distasteful that she then complains about what they have cost her.

Germanshepherdsmum

That’s sad, but it really isn’t sustainable for the state to pay for the level of care at home which her husband needed. I expect the book she has written and the tv programmes she is making about it will help, along with no longer having to turn jobs down.

Heartbreaking but true. I agree with you wholeheartedly GSM.
Plus, didn’t she fly him out to Mexico for cardiac treatment in December. With all the necessary paraphernalia and precautions, that trip would have cost a huge sum. And that was a choice. Adding to the huge bill.
Not that I blame her - she’d have wanted to pull out every stop.
Most folk can’t afford that level of ministration.

Germanshepherdsmum

That’s sad, but it really isn’t sustainable for the state to pay for the level of care at home which her husband needed. I expect the book she has written and the tv programmes she is making about it will help, along with no longer having to turn jobs down.

I get what you are saying.. but I have been involved with many families where thefamily member is looked after at-home and care costs have been more than Derek's ( over 4ka week) and its all been paid for by nhs continuing health care.... I never really had an opinion either way....just a patient on my caseload.....I think what Kate was saying is...how does person need to be to qualify for CHC...one patient at home ( learning disability and complex health needs with a tracheostomy) it cost 7k to keep them at home...all paid for....I guess families just wanting some clarity around non means tested funding

That’s sad, but it really isn’t sustainable for the state to pay for the level of care at home which her husband needed. I expect the book she has written and the tv programmes she is making about it will help, along with no longer having to turn jobs down.

Georgesgran

I agree with GSM and many who followed in the same vein of thought.
I read that Kate’s salary was over £500K a year just from ITV and I believe she also hosts/hosted a radio programme.
Those of us with more modest means have just had to bite the bullet regarding care costs and I suspect many of us didn’t try claiming AA or Carers Allowance either.
It’s very sad that Kate and her children lost Derek, but it is what it is.

Kate Garroway has said she is in £800,000 of debt.

KG also said that she gave up a lot of her work whilst caring for Derek, her income was severely reduced.

And however much, it is simply not sustainable for the state to cover those costs.
I will bow out now.

Sorry I did know that.
I simply made a mistake
I am not really thick.

I agree with GSM and many who followed in the same vein of thought.
I read that Kate’s salary was over £500K a year just from ITV and I believe she also hosts/hosted a radio programme.
Those of us with more modest means have just had to bite the bullet regarding care costs and I suspect many of us didn’t try claiming AA or Carers Allowance either.
It’s very sad that Kate and her children lost Derek, but it is what it is.

annsixty

That £16, 000 weekly would fund many operations every year for people in great pain for years.

Many homes down south cost a few thousand a week ....Derek's was 4k a week...not 16k

Just because someis in a nursing home ...doesn't mean they are always eligible for NHS continuing health care funding .... as in Derek's case ....I used to do CHC assessments way way back.....and the eligibility was way way different ( easier to access) .....you used to be able to be awarded 50% but don't think this happens now?

Sadly, dementia itself doesn't qualify for nursing care.

It was £16,000 per month not per week.

That £16, 000 weekly would fund many operations every year for people in great pain for years.

I have posted on the other thread about this.
Nobody should be able to ask/ demand/insist that very, very expensive care should be available to all.
It is a personal choice and it broke my heart to put my very sick H into a care home but it was necessary for his care and my health.
I also paid dearly in monetary terms for many months as I was too worn out to try and fight for CHC as I knew I would probably lose, that was the realty.
It should have been awarded but only with a hard hard fight as many on here will testify.

Fancythat without triggering my anxiety around this horrible period I will briefly say that it seemed the social workers I worked with believed they had superior medical knowledge to the nurses when it came to care in the community particularly in respect of the progression of disease processes- the stand up rows were terrible. As a senior manager I was frequently having to mediate on decisions re funding then being overruled by a Director who at times had been nobbled by the local MP. Hell.

I can well understand that she wanted him to stay at home, but even a very good nursing home wouldn’t have cost anything like £16,000 a week. Sadly I don’t see why the state should be expected to fund anyone’s very expensive preferences in such cases.

As for the difference between social and nursing care, as I understand it, social care - as in washing, dressing, help with eating and drinking, and ‘toileting’ as they like to call it, can be provided by a person with no qualifications except (we would hope) a kind and caring nature.

Whereas anywhere calling itself a ‘nursing’ home must have a qualified nurse always on duty for those procedures that need a trained professional.

IMO there’s often confusion, because (as I saw when a frequent visitor to a forum for carers of people with dementia) so many people mistakenly refer to any standard residential care home as a ‘nursing’ home.

fancythat

^My last job before retiring was in a unit attempting to join adult social care with community nursing. It was hell. Assessments and understanding of care needs varied wildly^

Can you explain more about this please?
I dont think I am properly understanding.
And I think it is an important subject.

Am also interested to know because I always understood that adult social care was under the Community Health Care...maybe its different practices in different NHS postcodes..my brother has been in a an expensive nursing home now for 2 yrs although he doesn't have specific nursing needs, my sister has just gone into a care home and she does have specific nursing needs...very confusing...

I agree with GSM and BB here: I've had experience with this too; from what I know of her husbands condition he would have qualified for NHS Continuing Care, which is not funded by the individual it is equally very difficult to get! When she took him home, which I can totally understand, she changed the dynamics. The whole care industry needs a thorough overhaul but it probably won't be in my lifetime!

My last job before retiring was in a unit attempting to join adult social care with community nursing. It was hell. Assessments and understanding of care needs varied wildly

Can you explain more about this please?
I dont think I am properly understanding.
And I think it is an important subject.

Indeed she is and thank goodness it needs a high profile campaign. The problem always seems to be the interpretation of the varying definitions of 'social care' v 'nursing care'. I have had a great deal to do with this on an individual and on a macro level and I don't know what the answer is if there is to be no more money. My last job before retiring was in a unit attempting to join adult social care with community nursing. It was hell. Assessments and understanding of care needs varied wildly. I think various governments have always put it in the 'too difficult box' despite saying they are progressing joint units. I hope Kate has more luck focusing government attention.