Hi everyone, I’m looking for a bit of advice or tales of experience in this situation currently being faced by my father and our family.
Basically, he has a care and support plan in place and it’s paid for through the direct payments scheme. For the past few months he’s been having a lot of hassle with the local council who are squabbling over raising their funding to match increases in care costs and they’re pressuring him into a care home as a result.
He’s not yet sixty, and isn’t ill enough to need 24hr care, but he does need more care than the council currently funds and my family and I are left to top that up whenever necessary (or when he’s let down by agency etc) He’s been in limbo, waiting and worrying about what’s going to become of him should they dramatically reduce his care or fail to put in a few extra quid to help keep his current care plan afloat.
The social worker he has is a nightmare and despite a complaint against her, she is coming out again in the next couple of weeks to do the CHC checklist. There’s absolutely no point in this, as they know my father didn’t qualify for it last year and he’s not deteriorated in any significant way since.
He did however come up just on the “cusp” of qualifying, as in - I think he was like one B shy of needing a full assessment if I recall. But nothing has changed in the last twelve months, so he’s not going to suddenly get another B or an A now.
Anyway, my question is, if it comes back that he’s still not eligible for the full assessment, what will happen regarding his direct payments? Are the council obligated to continue funding at the current level if he doesn’t qualify/is rejected for CHC?
Can they turn around and get away with refusing to increase the funding to match increased care costs if the NHS won’t step in? Can they get away with reducing care funding in any way on the grounds that they think it’s cheaper to get the same care in a care home? I think that’s outrageous even to suggest such a thing, and he doesn’t want to go into a care home, he’s got a lot of friends in the area who don’t drive, and he gets out to seem them on his scooter on his good days. Having seen what happened to his brother/my uncle and my maternal grandfather, how isolated they became and how quickly they deteriorated, I am terrified of how quickly he will go downhill himself in a facility chosen/funded by the council. As it seems they’re only willing to pay for the cheapest, and don’t care where that is in the area.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks everyone.