Our latest blog from our owner Andrew Wood

It used to be the case that as we aged and needed help beyond immediate family, or indeed have other health conditions at a younger age, such as an acquired brain injury or muscular dystrophy, a residential or nursing care home would be the next, and final, move from our own home.

However, for the last 35 years or so we have been able to receive care at home, ranging from as little as an hour a week (often called domiciliary care) right through to a little understood category called Live In care.

Live In care involves having someone living with you, in the home up to 22 hours a day (so throughout the night), supporting you in and out of the home in an almost unlimited way, for a few weeks in each stretch before the second dedicated carer replaces the first carer, on rotation.

It is well-reported that the UK has a funding crisis in adult social care and for indiscriminate conditions like dementia, where over a million people live with this condition in the UK, the financial burden can be very substantial, over many years, regardless of the ability to pay for care.

In-home care provision divides into two financial camps, whilst the primary responsibility for adult social care sits with the Local Authority. Every adult is entitled to an assessment of needs. However, if you have over £23,250 of your own savings (a limit which has been unchanged since 2010) then, sadly, you have to pay for your own care (unless health needs are so great that you qualify for NHS funding under Continuing Healthcare funding). This threshold excludes the value of your home if you choose to have care in your own home.

However, if you live alone, you are expected to sell your home if you choose to move to a care home, to help pay for care until your funds are down to that threshold. Alternatively, equity release schemes can free up money for care.

If your savings are below the £23,250 threshold, then the Local Authority will make a partial contribution, up to covering the full cost if savings are less than £14,250. It is also not widely known that if you do qualify for Local Authority help, then you can receive this contribution but choose to ‘top up’ and use a provider of your choice.

Costs of care by the hour range from £25-35/hour (with no VAT) and can be scaled up or down as needs increase or decrease, and can also be used for short-term help, for respite support or after discharge home following a hospital procedure.

Live In care typically costs upwards of £1,600 a week, which is a substantial cost but is comparable with, or may be less than, the costs of a private care home. However, Live In care offers one-to-one support all day and night, including trips out of the home.

A great source of homecare information and providers is of course www.homecare.co.uk, the TripAdvisor of homecare.

If we can assist you or you wish to talk through options for care support, please do call us on 0117 435 0063.

click here for more details or to contact Home Instead (Bristol North)