In February this year charity worker Sian Simon, 41, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, moved her mum Brenda, 75, into her home.
In April, Sian had to sell the family home where Brenda had lived for 30 years to pay for a private carer, as her mum had over £23,250 in savings, a decision she says was “very difficult”.
“My mum’s dementia had started to get worse last year, so in June I contacted my local authority’s local Adult Social Care Services”, says Sian. “They visited twice over a long period of time and said there was nothing they could do.
“She was classed as a self-funder, so I knew I’d have to pay privately for care. We couldn’t afford a care home, so I moved her in with me.
"Unfortunately, as I am a single mum of children aged 9 and 7 and worked full-time, I was unable to look after Mum safely and that’s when I knew I would have to pay for a private carer.
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“Selling our family home was a very difficult decision to make. It was awful. I also knew it would make my mum’s Alzheimer’s worse, as people with the condition do better when they are in a familiar place, and she has struggled more with confusion.
“The private care costs £700 a week which is a large amount, we have a carer come in every day for 10 hours a day to look after my mum.”
Sian says although she knows the money for social care “has to come from somewhere”, she is concerned that not enough will have been ring-fenced for social care.
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And she adds the change so anyone with assets between £20,000 and £100,000 will be means tested on the amount of pay won’t affect her and her mother, as it won’t come in until 2023.
“It’s still two years away before that changes, and the house is sold,” says Sian.
“The £86,000 cap on care costs is still a lot of money, and it would be all of mum’s money gone, so what happens then?”.
Sian has been supported by the charity Access Social Care, who have provided her with free legal advice about her mum’s situation, after her local authority said they could not give her mum an adult care assessment as she was privately paying for it.
She says: “I understand she is a self funder and all I have asked for is professional guidance and numerous times said I felt completely out of my depth.
“If my mum had not had me, she would have been in an inhumane situation”
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