Live in care services in Oxford
Home care and live in care in Oxford – cheaper than a residential home?Britain’s creaking residential care home industry is facing a number of financial challenges, forcing homes to increase fees for those who pay them.
Residential care homes face the same costs as every household in terms of fuel and food bills and the costs of cleaning and maintenance. But they have additional difficulties in the form of rising wage bills and rents.
Some groups also have high borrowings.
However, one of the biggest factors driving up care home fees is the fact that those who pay their own way – because they failed the means-test – end up subsidising those who are paid for by local councils.
Care homes say that local authorities don’t pay them enough to fund the places, which forces them to squeeze the cash out of “self-funders”.
Nick Kounoupias, 54, a lawyer, has found that 24-hour, seven-day a week care for his father Mikis, 93, is significantly cheaper than finding a good-quality care home.
The family found a carer through one of a growing number of agencies that do not employ carers directly but instead put them in touch with suitable clients via an app.
Two carers live with Mr Kounoupias for a fortnight at a time, looking after him for 24 hours a day, before taking the following fortnight off.
He is in generally sound health, but is growing more frail. His sight and hearing is also deteriorating.
The family wanted him to remain independent for as long as possible, and say he has benefited from being in familiar surroundings and eating home-cooked food.
Mr Kounoupias said: “If I did put him in a care home, I’d only do as a last resort. I wouldn’t want to put him into some of the places I’ve seen.
“The only one that we liked cost £5,500 a month. Using the carers comes out at £2,200 a month.”
For more on this story visit the Telegraph website.
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She is quoted as saying “As care minister, I am already humbled and inspired by the empathy, compassion and dedication you demonstrate every day. We need you now more than ever, and our support for you remains unwavering. Help us make that support as effective, inclusive and rewarding as it can be. Because good care is more than just a job, it’s a vocation”.
For more information on this stiory visit the Guardian website
The meeting will involve talks from scientists at the forefront of research into the condition.
The event is organised by members of the Alzheimer’s Research UK Oxford Network Centre, a community of dementia researchers from universities across the region.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading dementia research charity, funding research into the causes of dementia, diagnosis, preventions and treatments. They fund more than £27m of dementia research across the UK, including pioneering work at the universities of Oxford, Oxford Brookes, and the University of Reading. The funding is allowing scientists in the region to uncover more about causes of dementia and contribute to the global effort to put a stop to the heartbreak of the condition.
Speakers on the day include Dr Francesco Tamagnini, from the University of Reading whose research involves exploring the causes of Alzheimer’s disease by measuring the electrical activity in brain’s memory centre. Also speaking is Dr Timothy Johanssen, who will talk about exciting new initiatives that are accelerating research towards new treatments for dementia. Attendees will get a chance to hear from Marianne Talbot, the author of ‘Keeping Mum – Caring for Someone with Dementia’. There will also be stalls with free information about dementia and how people can get involved in research studies.
The free event is being held from 10.00am – 1:00pm on Saturday 17 March at the Academic Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU. Refreshments will be provided, and parking is available (hospital charges apply). To find out more go to http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/our-research/what-we-do/meet-our-scientists/ and you can also book your place by contacting Mel Witt at aruk.administrator@dpag.ox.ac.uk or 01865 282358.
