Are you ready to be discharged from hospital but still waiting for suitable care to be arranged? You are not alone. At any one time hospital social workers will be trying to agree suitable care for any number of elderly and frail people.
A properly co-ordinated and considered transfer from hospital into care takes time and the new Care Act 2014 sets out the principle that individual wellbeing is fundamental to this process (see the chart, right).
Once you are ready to be discharged from hospital you, your chosen representatives, the discharge co-ordinator and a hospital social worker should discuss and agree a care plan.
This should be after a needs assessment has been carried out. If it is not appropriate for you to return home, so that your option is to go into a care home. you should still have a choice of care home.
There are different types of care homes that provide different levels of care dependent on your needs, ranging from just social care to full nursing care for people with severe dementia.
Your health needs will be your first consideration and you will want to ensure the home can provide adequate care for you – both now and further ahead. If your condition is likely to deteriorate it can be distressing moving home so you might choose a home where both residential and nursing care is available.
It is also important to consider your wellbeing - you do not stop being you just because you are going into care. Your lifestyle choices remain relevant and the right home for you is important – so if you would like to take a much-loved pet then this should be allowed.
It is only once a care plan has been agreed that the question of funding should be considered and a Means Assessment carried out; even if you will be self-funding your care, the local authority should still assist you in your choice if you are unable to arrange your care yourself.
The local authority must provide a “genuine choice” of care and you should be given every opportunity for your “preferred choice” to be met - within certain constraints you have the right to care anywhere in the UK - so if you wish to relocate to be nearer family members this should be taken into account.
Once you have moved into a home your care should be kept under review as part of the original Care Plan. Settling into a home can be difficult and care staff are well used to helping people adjust, but If the care is not right for you then do not be afraid to say so and to ask for changes or indeed a move.
Your care home is now your home, and you have the right to live where you prefer.
Sue Savill
Partner, Trusts and Estates Team at Ashfords LLP
s.savill@ashfords.co.uk
Notes: 1. Cases of delayed transfer of care due to social care provision have risen 19% in 2014-15 (source Health & Social Care Info Centre) 2. More than one million hospital bed days lost due to delayed discharges 2014-15 (source NHS England) 3. Age UK has a useful care checklist which highlights aspects to consider http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/care-home-checklist/location-and-building/
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here