I don’t think the NHS pays for the non-private ones. It’s the local authority that funds them.
www.continuing-healthcare.co.uk
NHS Continuing Healthcare: If you have primary health needs due to a severe disability, illness, or accident, the NHS fully funds your entire care home package—including accommodation and food. This is free and not means-tested, but it requires a strict medical assessment
It’s a bit hard when they have dementia. The MIL had it for a few years and stayed at home with help from Mrs Mottie and her sister. Started off getting her shopping, then cooking her meals, then getting ready meals delivered and when they found she was warming up meals in the microwave for 30 minutes or frozen meals in the oven for 8 minutes they got hot meals on wheels delivered and then found she was just putting them in the fridge/freezer etc but it got to the stage where she would go walkies at 4 in the morning and knock the neighbours up plus she started seeing things - people in her shed, children in her washing basket etc. we tried taking it in turns having her overnight but she would be getting up every 10 minutes throughout the night. It was exhausting for both of them so she had to go into care. The home says it doesn’t matter if she (and others) go walkabout around the home as night staff keep a watch on them and they can’t get outside. Just lately she’s become incontinent (to the point she would fill her shoes up!) so needs constant cleaning and clothe changing butbrefuses to be bathed by the staff (she will only let Mrs Mottie or her sister bathe/shower her) so there’s another problem. 24 hour care in the home (if they can’t be left alone) is much more expensive than a home. Just having one person on minimum wage 24/7 will come to over £2k a week and you will still have all the household bills and food to pay for. It’s a bit of a nightmare.
A carer, a good one too not a chancer will cost aprox £1000 per week. A live in carer could be a good option in your position, Look on line for live in carer on google. Some very good ones available around this price, they usually have a day off during the week.
I took MBK's:
The big advantage of a live in carer is that your family member can remain at home and be looked after, some social services homes cannot offer the same level of comfort or care. Another way of reducing the live in care is to give the carer more time off and do a day split between family members if this is possible.
More like £12-1500 I think, and leaves a lot of extras. You need someone to cover the extra day, and on and on. We considered it, but it would have been physically too much for one person. It wasn't long before she fell over again and needed different care.
All dependant upon areas too, my area is probably one of the cheaper parts of the country.
The only big advantage of a live in carer at home is that they can die at their own home, in your own home you determine the care and what time you get up and showered etc, in a care home you follow the rules, they often quickly deteriorate and even become depressed and feel neglected. Most care homes cannot offer the level of 1 on 1 care that a home carer can give. Even if the price is the same, it is the best solution for the person that needs the care rather than just whats easier. Your average care home will have all of the residents plonked in front of a TV and sat in a chair for most of the day. Only moving to eat and go back to their room for bed.
We must have struck lucky with Mrs Motties one. They take them out to the seaside, do exercise classes, craft classes, organised sing-songs, trips to their sister care home, fish 'n chip nights etc etc. they have their own Facebook page and pictures of the old folks doing things are posted up every day. Mrs Mottie likes seeing what her mum has done and when she visits, she says to her mum "Oh, you went to the seaside on Tuesday, was it nice?" To which she replies "Did I?"…..
