Continuing health care funding

Hi everyone!

Wondering if there’s anyone out there who has experience of this funding.

Mum is going to be discharged from hospital into a residential bed at a local nursing

She is 92, has dementia , severe osteoporosis (back gone at almost every level ). Long standing wound of seven years on leg which prior to admission was being monitored on a daily basis by district nurse.

Admitted to hospital four weeks ago because of severe hallucinations. Seeing insects and red fish. Also saying pipes were leaking abdcthstcthe carpet was wet. In hospital also hallucinating. She was very dehydrated and has kidney damage. On admission she was still able to weight bear and .

She has been assessed using the NHS continuing healthcare check list. She scored one A and two Bs. The remainder being Cs . The A was for cognition. One B was for drug therapy and medication symptoms.
The other B was for skin integrity.

The Rationale for Decision was:-

Mary has a known demrntia and recent delirium. She requires support for personal and physical care needs. For residential care home placement with D.N support regarding skin care and non compliance of medication . Shecdirs not trigger for full health assessment not for FNC funding.

Knew the skin integrity section the assessor just mentioned her heel and sacrum areas and that there ‘was a dressing to left leg’. No mention of WHY the dressing was there! !! I spoke to the assessor 're this. The wound on left leg has been there for seven years. Will never heal because at home she continually removed the dressings. District nurses have been going in daily to monitor same. Tissue viability nurse has also been involved in the past and special treatment /dressings have to be applied to the area to ensure sepsis does not occur. On many occasions swans have proved positive for MRSA.

I have spoken to the head District nurse who knows mum well and she says she will liaise with the assessor 're this.

Re drug therapy/meds. Assessor only mentioned that mum is variable in compliance with medication in particular with oral laxatives.

I’ve told assessor that she is bon compliant with prescribed special dressing on left leg and again the head District nurse will liaise with her on this point.

Hopefully she will be reassessed and awarded further A scored. She needs two As to go down the route for continuing health care funding.

She is now weaker since the assessment and has great difficulty weight bearing. Takes two to transfer and has not walked for the last five or six days.

Any of your experiences or advice will be greatfully received. Xx thank you. Xx

Hi Joan … seasons greetings.

CHC / NHS Continuing Healthcare ?

You certainly have come to the right place.

Main thread :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-nhs-continuing-healthcare-chapter-and-verse-under-one-thread-guidelines-and-links-32532

If totally new to you , strongly recommend starting with the video from Professor Luke Clements.

Make yourself comfortable , it’s fairly long but , if you dislike bland text , well worth it from a social care expert with several admirers on this forum over the years.

Not eligible … NHS FNC an alternative ?

Section within the main thread with two links explaining the alternatives :
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Not eligible for CHC but may be so for NHS funded nursing care ?

Appeal against a decision ?

Again , separate section in the main thread … two links with guidance :
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Appeals against CHC rulings ?

NHS FNC ?
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NHS-funded nursing care

NHS-funded nursing care is when the NHS pays for the nursing care component of nursing home fees. The NHS pays a flat rate directly to the care home towards the cost of this nursing care.

Who is eligible for NHS-funded nursing care ?

You may be eligible for NHS-funded nursing care if:

you’re not eligible for NHS continuing healthcare but have been assessed as needing care from a registered nurse
you live in a nursing home
How will my needs be assessed?

You should be assessed for NHS continuing healthcare before a decision is made about whether you are eligible for NHS-funded nursing care.

Most people don’t need a separate assessment for NHS-funded nursing care. However, if you do need an assessment or you haven’t already had one, your clinical commissioning group (CCG) can arrange an assessment for you. Find your local CCG.

Outcome of the assessment

If you’re eligible for NHS-funded nursing care, the NHS will arrange and fund nursing care provided by registered nurses employed by the care home. Services provided by a registered nurse can include planning, supervising and monitoring nursing and healthcare tasks, as well as direct nursing care.

If you’re not eligible for NHS-funded nursing care and you don’t agree with the decision about your eligibility, ask your CCG to review the decision.

The cost of NHS-funded nursing care

NHS-funded nursing care is paid at the same rate across England. In April 2018, the rate was set at £158.16 a week (standard rate).

Before October 1 2007, there were 3 different levels or bands of payment for NHS-funded nursing care – low, medium and high.

If you moved into a care home before October 1 2007, and you were on the low or medium bands, you would have been transferred to the standard rate from that date.

If you moved into a care home before October 1 2007, and you were on the high band, NHS-funded nursing care is paid at a higher rate. In April 2018, the higher rate was set at £217.59 a week. You’re entitled to continue on this rate unless:

you no longer have nursing needs.

you no longer live in a care home that provides nursing.

your nursing needs have reduced and you’re no longer eligible for the high band, when you would change to the standard rate of £158.16 a week, or

you become entitled to NHS continuing healthcare instead.

Have a ponder … then get back to us.

Thanks Chris. Will definitely have a look. Kind regards Joan.

Best wishes to you and yours for 2019

Cheers … we are all going to need it !!!

Too many storm clouds on the horizon even before that clock ticks overs 12pm tonight !

Definitely appeal. When you say she will be reassessed, have you formally appealed? Many appeals succeed, though it is a postcode lottery. The non-compliance Ithink is important. We did win an appeal and it was on the basis of behaviour. Although my brother’s behaviour was pleasant, so on the first application he was not given an A, on the appeal one of the team helping me realised that he was behaving in such a way that his health would suffer - pretending he’d taken his tablets but actually secreting them under his tongue and stuffing them under the mattress, to mention only one thing. His behaviour meant he was incapable of looking after his own health. I think that was the third A.

Post code lottery … rationing by design … shades of the PIP appeal debacle ?

Explored in a separate CHC thread :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-rationed-high-time-to-ask-some-obvious-questions-33311?hilit=chc%20rationed

We had our initial big meeting way back at the start of Sept…3 chase up telephone calls ( two from me and one from the Parkinson nurse ) plus an email and they still haven’t replied to us either way to say if we have been successful or not.

Part of me doesn’t want to chase it again for fear of them holding it against us as a nuisance and the other part of me says who ever shouts loudest gets what they want…

I’m frustrated as what a waste of my time and everyone else’s…the two care company representatives, the social worker, the Parkinson’s nurse, and the 1/2 day I took as holiday all to be present at the meeting in my mums home and then to hear nothing…

Delays in CHC Assessment decisions … regretably , nothing new … 28 days is the stated objective … the following link will be of assistance :

How Long Should I Wait For A Continuing Healthcare Funding Decision? • Continuing Healthcare

**_How Long Should I Wait for a Continuing Healthcare Funding Decision ?

We investigate the length of time it should take to receive a continuing healthcare funding decision._**

Oh Chris for some reason the link you sent me didn’t work but I managed to find Luke Clements by googling him and watched the video. It was interesting but I feel that I will need to listen to it again for everything to sink in!!! When you’re on the wrong side of seventy it takes longer for facts to filter through to the brain!!!

Anyway I am going to wait and see the outcome of the district nurse’s assessment on mum. She said she will liaise with the hospital assessor so hopefully, because she has known mum for seven years, she will be able to give a clear picture of Mum’s needs. I hope so!!! Will keep you updated.

Mum would be apalled if she knew she was having to sell her bungalow to fund her care. She used to say that when the national health service was formed It was there to support you from the cradle to the grave!!

My parents were not wealthy people. They had ordinary jobs. Dad a paint sprayer and mum as a spinner in the woolen trade. They had a strong work ethic. Dad worked long hours and mum part time when i was a child to ensure that they could buy their own home. They never claimed benefits, never went on fancy holidays etc. Yet they knew of other people who had similar wages to them would “live up” to their income and not own their own home. And then at the end of the day these people are totally funded for care in their old age!! Not fair!!! And don’t get me started on imigrants who have never contributed to our health system or fought for our country like my dad did! !!

Rant over…I’ll keep you updated.

Joan

Joan, make sure you apply for continuing health care - it sounds as if it’s what your mother would want. How soon is the nurse going to report back to you? Your mother’s needs are one thing, but another is how they are paid for. What the nurse says and what the hospital assessor says will be part of the application for CHC, but there has to be an application.

NEW main thread :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-nhs-contuing-healthcare-nhs-fnc-hospital-discharges-all-under-this-one-thread-35998

Epitaph on the OLD one … deleted during a purge on spam email :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-nhs-continuing-healthcare-main-thread-now-missing-35997

Just one section of great importance here :

**_GOLDEN RULES … NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING ANY ACADEMIC AND / OR SUIT TELLS YOU ABOUT EITHER !!!

CHECK , AND CHECK AGAIN , WHAT YOU ARE BEING TOLD AGAINST THE INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE PROVIDED IN THE VARIOUS TEXTS AND LINKS THAT FOLLOW !!!_**

Linda…hang in there! As you say those who shout loudest etc.!!!

If they still haven’t replied to your e mail I would be e mailing them again, along with a telephone call to politely remind them to reply to said correspondence!

And if you feel that you might be too anxious when phoning perhaps a younger member of your family could phone for you. I must admit I soon become very 'wound up/lose patience ’ nowadays and know that if I’m not careful i could come across as being ‘bolshy’ and this doesn’t do any good at all!!!

Good luck Linda. Thank you for sharing your experience with me.

Bug hug. Joan xx

Every CCCG has a Complaints Officer, and the Continuing Healthcare team ultimately come under them.

Start ringing the CCCG Complaints Officer, their boots are bigger than yours when it comes to kicking people into action!

NHS England » Feedback and complaints about NHS services

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How do I feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service ?

Hi Greta. I’ve just been looking through the posts again and am certain that I replied to your post but it doesn’t appear to be there!!! Can’t understand it. Perhaps I forgot to press the submit button!

Anyway Greta thank you for sharing your experience with me. I’ll keep you all updated on mums situation.

Tomorrow is THE day when she goes to the care home. Just keeping everything crossed that she soon settles. At least she’ll have her own room so it will be quieter than the hospital ward she’s been in.

The woman in the next bed has dementia and for some reason was given a singing Santa by ward staff and then her daughter brought her a singing penguin! !!! What a racket! ! And the stupid bed side lockers had doors which didnt close silently so every time someone went in them there was an enormous bang!!

Thinking of going into designing silent doors for hospital ward furniture!!

Big hug from Joan

That’s OK, Joan. Thanks for thinking about it and hugs to you too.

Hi every one. Mum has had the DST and I’ve been told verbally that she qualifies for CHC!!! Just waiting for confirmation in writing.

There is just one thing I’m concerned about. I’ve read somewhere that there are different levels of CHC as in standard and enhanced so won’t know until they tell me which level Mum is on

I’ve also read somewhere that there shouldn’t be different levels and wondered if anyone our there can offer me any advice 're this.

Thanks a lot.

Joan x

Excellent news , Joan !

Different flavours of CHC ?

NOPE :

Are there different levels of NHS care funding? - Care to be Different

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Are there different levels of NHS care funding depending on levels of need ?

2. There are high, medium and low levels of funding, depending on your specific care needs. – WRONG

Again this is not correct.

If you are found eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare finding, there is one level: the full cost of your care.

Probably more teething problems will follow … just let us know.

Hi Joan, that’s really good news. Let us know when you have the formal letter granting CHC.

Thanks Chris and bowling bun . Will keep you updated.

The home my mum is in is excellent and all the staff really caring. It is one of the more expensive ones in the area and I wouldn’t mind having to pay a small contribution if I have to. Just want to do best by mum. I’ve already disputed the first check list they did on her in hospital. The assessor only scored her a B for skin integrity and only wrote "dressing to left leg " on the checklist notes. Nothing to say WHY the dressing was there and even though when I asked district nurse to intervene (and who knows my mother’s leg better then anyone!!!) and who also thought scoring was wrong the assessor “stood by her professional judgement” and would not budge on the scoring. If she had scored an A on this domain then mum would have had enough scores to go through to a DST.

And also under "Altered states of consciousness " the assessor said NO ASC’s recorded when in hospital. But this woman should have gone to Spec Savers because I decided to obtain mum’s hospital records whilst she was in hospital and lo and behold she had had THREE episodes of altered states of consciousness in a three week period!!!

Tell you…you couldn’t make it up and certainly not trust anyone to do their job properly. And certainly NEVER assume anything!! I find its best to do your homework and keep one step ahead!!


Anyway perhaps I am jumping the gun will just have to be patient and wait for written confirmation.

Kind regards to you both and hope all is well in your lives.

Joan