Home Help & Respite Care

Nona

Hello all, I'm Nona and I'm delighted to be here.
Not sure if this topic has been discussed already but I need this help for my 70 year old sister in law. She is caring for her disabled husband who is in a wheelchair and has terminal cancer Both are on a pension but are told they will have to pay for any extra help or if she needs any respite. Is this true, has anyone experienced this?

woodbine

Hi @Nona and good morning, if they want help or respite they will have to be financially assessed taking into account savings and income, they could try and speak to McMillan for advice;

https://www.macmillan.org.uk

Nona

Thank you I will pass this information on though I'm sure Macmillan would have told them this already as they come in to do his medication but I will pass it on all the same. Cheers

Alex_Scope

Hello again @Nona I'm glad to see woodbine's post has been helpful for you. I've just moved this post over into our Independent Living category, in the hope that it will encourage more of our members to share their thoughts. 

It might be worth having a read of the NHS information on respite care, and a key point to bear in mind is that:

"Local councils will only fund respite care for people that they have assessed as needing it.

So if you want the council to pay for respite care for either yourself as a carer or the person you look after, it's important that you both have an assessment.

Carer's should have a carer's assessment.

The person you're looking after should have a needs assessment."

I hope the above is useful for you and your sister-in-law, but if anything's not clear please let me know

Nona

WELL! I'm brand spanking new here and I never expected (more fool me) to get such great and rapid information, I guess this is why where here. Thank you so much Woodbine and Alex.

Alex_Scope

I'm really pleased we could help @Nona if anything else comes up in the meantime then do reach out.

I hope you enjoy your time on the forum