my partner had his financial assesemnt done In June while he was in hospital. At the time the hospital said in his Best Interests meeting that he had to be discharged into a care home. At this time he had about £45,000 so he had to self fund. As the hospital had said, my partner went into a self funding care home where he really wasn’t happy, there was NO care, yes, they gave him his medication and they supplied him with food and drink, but that was where the care stopped. Residents stayed in their own rooms for the majority if not all of the day, the staff would sit in the lounge on their phones or watching telly when they could of , in my opinion sat with residents in their room chatting or just for company. My partner was paying almost £1400 a week for this.
So, I decided to bring him home, which is where he is now. I have had to cut my hours at work to do this. We are in the process of waiting for a claim for attendance allowance, and then I will apply for carers allowance. My partner is 74 and I am 55.
In his financial assessment he had about £45,000, ALL in his name only. We are using money from his account to fund things such as replacing beds, also to fund trips out as that is good for his mental health. Also we are talking about holidays, nowhere exotic but again, encouraging him to get out and about which is good for his mental health. My query is, in the future IF he was to need care and had to have another financial assessment done, would using the money from his account for these sort of activities be an issue with the council if they were to do another financial assesment? I only early £120 a week now which just about covers electric, gas, council tax etc
You need to talk to the Carers UK Helpline!
I think you should complain to the council about the assessment.
- Financial assessments can be done individually or jointly, and your partner should have been given the choice, which clearly he wasn’t.
- I’m not aware of any requirement for couples to be married in order for this to happen.
- You should also have been advised at the time of the assessment that your partner was entitled to Attendance Allowance. As a “self funder” he was entitled to this.
- Was he entitled to “Funded Nursing Care”?
Can I ask what he was in hospital for?
When did he have the financial Assessment, before or after he went into the care home?
I’m not entirely sure of the rules since Covid started, some have been ignored or altered.
It used to be the case that charges were only payable AFTER a financial assessment was completed.
The cost of the first 12 weeks of residential care should be assessed on income only, not savings.
Some weeks might even be free.
He should have had an NHS Continuing Healthcare Assessment BEFORE Social Services became involved.
As I said, you do need to discuss these things with the helpline, but I hope with these “pointers” it will help you ask the right questions.