I cannot help but feel although the headlines right now are great news for the government, as they seem to be addressing one of the bigger issues of the day head on, the actuality will be completely different.

As with the current arrangement where the local authority allows an amount of money to fund care, the reality is very different. This amount of money is not always enough to find either a) any care at all or b) not the correct care for the specific condition, so a ‘top up’ is required by a 3rd party. This is certainly the case in the area in which mother is resident.

My specific concerns are:
a) How will the level of funding be agreed and will they be different for different regions of the country?

b) As fate would have it the capital we have invested to fund my mothers nursing care will run out in 2010 – 2011 depending on the level of interest we can achieve. This obviously coincides with the implementation of the new scheme. How would we be expected/able to ‘top up’ the funding for my Mothers care when all her money will already have been spent? I am sure a top up will be required.

This is a major concern of mine is we would have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds supporting the state and ensuring my mother gets the care required only to be on the wrong end of the change.

I have always stated that I do not mind spending the entire value of my mothers estate ensuring her care is as good as is necessary, but I have always worried how we ensure this continues after the money has run out. This new scheme seems to make our case worse.