Should you be paying care fees?

My father died 12 days after going in to a nursing home. My father never had a financial Assessment. He did have a CHC assessment and was not eligible but was awarded a sum for Funded Nursing Care. The days after my father's death my sister was hounded by the social worker ringing but my sister was grieving and didn't answer. The Social worker eventually sent an email setting out what the fees would be saying if he was under the threshold it would be treated as a temporary stay and X was payable if he was above the threshold we should pay around £550 for the week. We wrote back asking her not to keep hounding my sister that we were asking solicitors to deal with the matter and gave her details when we eventually got the bill it was double what Social worker had told us. My father was never given any rates he had delirium and we were told every time they tried to assess him he had no mental capacity. We have challenged the Bill only for the care home to send different bills different amounts and periods each time but none in the amount of what Social Services advised. I have since got my father's medical records and it appears to say that social services were taking care of the bill until a financial assessment could take place any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks so much for your response.

I asked the care Home about CHC and they agreed to set the process in motion and the assessment will be held at the care Home on Tuesday.

My concern is that the manager who is now on the Board told me my husband, in their opinion, is eligible .. but then added ‘if he is granted it, it will only make a small difference to the care fees but will give them finance for more resources’ !!!

So CHC will be paid directly to the care Home?

My thinking from what I’ve read on your excellent website is that if he is granted it, then I can stop all our top up fees (£8,000 per year)? Howecer I fear I will have a serious conflict with the home which is worrying me.

Jan

My husband went into a care home 2 year’s ago aged 65 with Lewy Body Dementia. His condition
has rapidly deteriorated and is mmobile, doubly incontinent and has to be fed. I asked the care home if we could apply for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). They agreed & the full assessment is on 3 April. My husband is not self funding, but I pay a top up.
Alarm bells started to ring after I had a chat with the Care Home Manager. He told me he should get it, but added ‘if he does, financially it won’t make a big difference, only a small amount’!
Two weeks later I had a conversation with the care manager who told me, ‘If he is eligible it will help us with getting extra resources’!
I am completely shocked as from reading your website if he is given CHC, then his care home fees will be paid 100%! I ran this past the CHC team who confirmed that his fees would be paid 100%.
My worry is that the Care Home is going to take 100% of his fees and pass a token amount back to me. I am feeling very anxious about this, as I’ve had awkward discussions with them in the past when we were agreeing our contribution. I have never been sent an annual statement. I was told our church was going to be asked to consider contributing a small donation to his care (it's owned by a church community) I was never told one way or the other. I asked a few months ago if they were contributing and was told that I would ‘understand that it is a confidential matter between the home and my church’! Considering it is my account I am shocked at this response!! Hence alarm bells! I would appreciate your thoughts please.