Moving to a care home

Practical arrangements for making the move to residential care

We will talk to you about the practical arrangements for your move.  If you do not have the support of family or friends your social worker will be happy to help you.  

If you have been in hospital it is not always possible to find you a place in a suitable care home at exactly the time you are ready to leave hospital.  For this reason we have some care homes that have been specially set up for temporary stays.  You may be placed in one of those homes for a short time while we arrange your permanent move.

Moving in to a care home can take some adjustment and it may take you a while to get used to your new surroundings.  There is therefore a settling-in period (usually six weeks) before you need to make any final decisions. During this period you may wish to keep your rented accommodation or delay the sale of your own home while you settle in to the care home.  This may mean you are paying both rent and care home charges for a short time.  If so you may be entitled to claim housing benefit or an exemption from council tax.  You should ask your social worker for advice about this.

After the six week period there will be an opportunity for you, your family, the care home staff and your social worker to get together to talk about how you are settling in and whether you would like to make it your permanent home.  

Once you have decided to stay it will be necessary to give up your tenancy if renting accommodation or look in to selling your home if you were living there alone.  You will also need to make sure services such as gas or electricity have been disconnected and arrange for your post to be redirected.  Your social worker can help with all of this.