Residential Care

A residential care home provides accommodation, meals and personal care for older people, people with disabilities, or people who are unable to manage at home, for whatever reason.
 

Given a choice, most people would prefer to stay in their own homes despite any risk that may be involved. Private help may be arranged through an agency, especially if the person needing help has a private income, or can claim disability benefits or Attendance Allowance. Help may also be available from Adult Social Services, who can assess your care needs and provide a range of suitable care services.

However, if it become necessary to look seriously into moving into residential care, perhaps because of an accident, sudden illness, bereavement or deterioration in a person’s ability to cope on their own, then it is important that these key things are considered:
 

• What type of Home will best meet the person’s needs?
• Will financial assistance be needed to pay for their stay?
• How can you be sure that the Home you pick will provide a good standard of care, and that the person going into the Home will be happy there?

Help when you need to think about Residential or Nursing Home Care

• A Social Worker / Care Manager will complete with you and your carer, a full assessment of your social care needs to establish that you need residential or nursing home care and that there is no viable alternative to this. If it seems likely that you will need nursing home care, a nurse who works in the community will also complete an assessment with you and your carer, to establish that you need nursing home care and that there is no viable alternative.

• If you wish, the Social Worker / Care Manager can help you to choose a suitable residential or nursing home to meet your needs.

• A full financial assessment, giving details of your income, capital and any assets disposed of in recent years may be completed. This will determine yours and the local authority’s contributions to the Home fees.

• If you solely own a property you would normally have to pay the full costs of your care. The Council can temporarily help with the cost in exchange for reimbursement from the sale of your property.

• If you choose a Home that charges more than we would normally pay, you may still go there if someone else e.g. a relative or friend, is willing to pay the difference under a contract with us.

• Before an offer of a place in a home is confirmed, you will be asked to agree and sign a contract between you, the Home and Solihull Council. This contact defines the standards of care, the Home fees and the amounts that you and we are each agreeing to pay.

• The Social Worker / Care Manager arranges regular reviews of your social care needs, the service provided by the Home and your financial situation.

We can provide advice, information and support and can assess your care needs. If this assessment confirms that a Home is the most appropriate way to meet your needs, we may be able to help you find a place in a local authority, private or voluntary residential home. We can also conduct a financial assessment to see if any help can be provided towards the cost of the Home fees.

If you would like to talk to someone about the social care needs of an adult, please contact you Adult Care Team.

You can also get advice and information to help you make this important decision from:
 

• A district nurse
• A health visitor
• Your family doctor

The level of care varies from Home to Home but the Government defines it as the kind of care you would receive from a competent and caring relative. This includes help with eating, washing, bathing, dressing and toilet needs and caring for you if you become ill. However, residential care does not include nursing care.

The decision to recommend a residential or nursing home will only be made after a full assessment. If nursing home care is recommended, then the local authority also has to agree to this. You can also consider homes in other local authority areas if your needs will be better met there.
 

Help finding accommodation

Adult Social Services aims to enable people to stay at home as long as it is reasonable, practical and safe to do so. Sometimes this is not possible and a move into a residential or nursing home can best meet an individual's needs.

All homes are registered and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Inspection reports can be viewed on the CQC website. This website also has information about homes outside Solihull.

CQC also produces a helpful leaflet about national minimum standards in care homes for older people. This can be requested through the website.

CSCI can be contacted by:
Tel: 03000 616161
Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
www.cqc.org.uk

Some voluntary organisations offer advice and support to people looking into moving to residential or nursing care. These include:

Solihull Carers Centre
Tel: 0121 788 1143
Fax: 0121 788 1143
Email: centre@solihullcarers.org
www.carers.org/local/west-midlands/solihull

Alzheimer's Society
Tel: 0121 442 6565
Email: birminghamandsolihull@alzheimers.org.uk
www.alzheimers.org.uk/Birmingham&Solihull

Age UK
Tel: 0121 705 9128
Fax: 0121 704 0139
Email: info@ageuksolihull.org.uk 

www.ageuk.org.uk/solihull

If you need assistance paying for residential or nursing care, Solihull NHS Care Trust may be able to help.

If the Care Trust is helping towards the cost of your residential or nursing care, you will receive a copy of the contract agreed with the Home.

The Care Trust pays a fixed rate for homes but you or your relatives may choose to pay more in what is called "top up fees", details of which can be supplied on request by the Social Worker helping you.
 

Nursing Care

As of 1 October 2001, people who fund their own care in a Nursing Home became eligible for a contribution towards their nursing care from the NHS. The financial contribution of the NHS is decided in accordance with the Department of Health's criteria and is paid at a fixed rate.

To determine your registered nursing requirements, Solihull NHS Care Trust will arrange an assessment by an appointed Nurse Assessor together with you and the registered nurse involved in your care. Your family or someone of your choice may also be present if you wish.

If you are making admission arrangements yourself or with your family, then the nursing home's manager can contact the Lead Nurse on your behalf.

Further details can be obtained by contacting the Lead Nurse for NHS Funded Care at Solihull NHS Care Trust 0121 711 7171.
 

How do we decide what help you may need?

We may help with paying your fees in a residential home if:
 

• you have capital below £23,000 (as at April 2009), and;
• you are highly physically or mentally dependant on another for your care; and
• due to limited mobility, you are unable to manage personal care tasks, e.g. washing, feeding, dressing etc.
• you are unable to be left safely overnight without continuous supervision; and/or
• you are unable to continue to live independently in your own home without serious risk;

and/or

• your needs cannot be met in appropriate manner by community and health care services or you need an intensity of help which cannot be sustained by community and health care services; and
• you are prepared to enter a care home.

We may help with paying your fees in a nursing home if:
 

• the above reasons for help with the fees of a residential home apply to you
• you need frequent and unpredictable nursing care and procedures which require the presence of a qualified nurse; and/or
• your mobility is so limited that you are unable to manage any personal care tasks without assistance; and/or
• you are so mentally confused that you cannot be cared for in a residential care home; and/or
• you need constant monitoring of your condition; and/or
• you need supervision of your medication; and/or
• you are doubly incontinent.

24 hour help in a health care setting may need to be provided if you have continuing nursing and/or medical needs.

This may be so if you are severely disabled, e.g.

• needing nursing care or medical supervision of a type not normally available in nursing homes
• having symptoms which cannot be controlled adequately by medication
• behaving in ways which cannot be contained within a nursing home, e.g. aggression, wandering

Council Residential Homes

Residential Care for Older People is provided in one home in the South of the Borough:

Sunhaven Home
210 High Street
Solihull Lodge
Solihull
B90 1JP
Tel: 0121 430 3111