Carers Assessment Questions

[Guest]

Hi All,

New to the forum. Without going into all the background (will leave that to the intro forum) we have recently come to the decision we can no longer care from my husbands granddad (92yrs old) (who lives with us in our home) any longer. This is in part due to his declining dementia, the time it is taking us away from home schooling our son, our family life and our business (we work for ourselves from home) and most importantly my physical health as I've had health problems for years relating to a car accident we had over 20yrs ago. I'm currently waiting on a brain scan and audiology tests for which I'm told I may be waiting til March which is very concerning.

It saddens us to come to this decision but we know if we don't it will be very detrimental to us very soon. We have the support of my SIL and Granddads daughter who lives in Australia.

We have spoken to the SW last week and requested a carers assessment. She has asked us to return the carers form and to visit the care homes on the list she gave us. We'll be dropping in the form on Monday. We just have a few questions about a carers assessment:

1. How long do you have to wait for a carers assessment?
2. Once the assessment has been completed how long until a decision is made if SS agree or not that Granddad should move to a home?
3. What sort of questions will they ask us?
4. We assume this meeting is for us, the carers not granddad as we'd like to be honest but don't want to upset him?
5. What happens if SS do not agree he is ready and refuse to find him a home?
6. How bad does it have to get for the carer before SS act?

Any help would be useful.
Thanks
SBJH

[phoebe]

Hi SBJH, I am new to the forum too and currently caring for my husband. However, from what I can remember from a few years ago when we were looking after my mother in law, (In her 90's with dementia), Social services will probably send a doctor round to ask your grandad a few questions to assess the state of his dementia. After this, a report will be made and they will probably class him as a "vulnerable adult" which means they have a duty of care towards him. The social worker assigned will probably be assigned to your Grandad, not you, but will work closely with you, and take all your circumstances into consideration to reach the best conclusion for all the family. My advice is to keep a diary to note meetings, tel calls etc as it gets quite involved, and make a note of questions you want to ask, and don't be afraid to have a list of concerns or queries. That is what they are there for.
Good luck, and hope all goes well with your scan in march.

[bowlingbun]

They will probably do two assessments, one for grandad, looking at what he can and cannot do; and one for you, looking at grandad's impact on family life and your health etc. The key thing to remember is that you have a right NOT to care if you don't want to, you can't be forced to care for grandad. It's good that the family are all agreed that this is the right thing to do. In the past, I have both worked in care homes; and helped elderly people choose a home to move into; and my own MIL developed Alzheimers and was an emergency admission, so no real choice available. I always thought to myself "Would I be happy here?" Do the staff speak nicely to the residents, are the rooms nice and clean, do staff seem happy? Have a look at the CQC website, where you can read the latest home inspection report. It may not be as detailed as you might like, but I would suggest that you steer clear of any with bad reports. Good homes usually have short waiting lists, so it depends whether you need grandad to leave asap, or whether you would like to wait until a vacancy becomes available. Once it has been agreed which home is your first choice, but there is a waiting list, they might be able to offer a day service in the meatime. The nearer the home is to you, the easier it will be. Has funding been discussed yet? Depending on grandad's needs, and financial situation, he might have to pay the full cost of his care until his savings fall below a certain sum; or he might qualify for "Continuing Care" paid for fully by the NHS - but there will be a few hoops to jump through for this! Your own financial situation is not considered. Hope that helps, I'd just like to say well done for caring for grandad up till now.

[Myrtle]

We assume this meeting is for us, the carers not granddad as we'd like to be honest but don't want to upset him?

A Carers Assessment is for the carer, not the caree and you do need to be honest. If you can't cope or you feel you can no longer care then you need to say so. This is about your needs, not Granddad's.

What happens if SS do not agree he is ready and refuse to find him a home?

I don't think that's likely as they've already given you a list of care homes to look at, but you can actually refuse to care. They have a duty of care, not you and from what you've said you need to be looking after your own health.