What you need to know about residential aged care services and fees
How do I know what happens to Mum at the aged care facility when we’re not there. What services is she paying for?
Whenua talks to about residential aged care services and fees. And specifically, what services are you paying for? And what happens when you're not there?
We know getting in to your facility to see what's going on has been a bit of a challenge over the last couple of years, and still is for some people if you're not vaccinated.
And knowing what you are entitled to, and what perhaps you're not, can also be a little bit of a challenge, but there's a couple of places that you can go to find out these things.
So starting with,
What services am I paying for?
The best place to really understand this is in your contract.
Generally, in the back of your contract should be a schedule of fees and services that the provider is obligated to provide for your parent and things that they're not. And there is some complication here, that's a little bit of a legacy of the old high and low care system.
It should be fairly straight forward to work out what you are getting and not getting. Obviously things like food, amenities and bedding etc is all provided by the facility.
Continence products are sometimes provided and sometimes not. So this can be a little bit confusing. And it does depend if you're there on respite or as a permanent resident.
Toiletries and the like are provided by the facility. However the facility is not obligated to provide that brand that you might prefer.
They will provide generally a basic, good quality product, if you want something specific, you'll need to provide that yourself.
So, go to the back of the contract, go through it, that's got the information there. Wound Care is another thing that can be a little bit interesting. The facility is obligated to provide basic wound care material and in some cases more complex dressings if required.
So what about how do I know what's going on when I'm not there?
We know this can be challenging and we know that it an be hard to sometimes trust what’s going on if what you’re seeing or hearing from mum and dad doesn’t correlate to what you’re being told.
So a really good place to start here is to ask to see the care plan. So your parents, or anyone in a residential aged care facility should have a care plan.
And that should guide the staff and the facility as to what care needs mom or dad have.
It is supposed to be a collaborative document, which means that it should be done with mum and dad and appropriate next of kin, or substitute decision makers, or whomever that other person might be. And you're entitled to have a copy of that. And in fact, they should be offering to share that with you. But often that doesn't happen. Just because it doesn't always happen does not necessarily mean anyone's trying to be difficult there.
So it’s always a good idea to just ask if you haven't been given the opportunity to look at that, and take it away and have a bit of a read. And if it doesn't make sense, go back and ask them. What does this mean? Sometimes it can look a bit funny because you might be seeing a different picture to what you know. And there can be reasons for that.
Again, often good to check back in with the facility. Or you can give us a call and we can have a look at it for you and give you an opinion on what we think might be happening or not as the case may be.
We know that sometimes what you're being told by your loved one, and what's actually happening can sometimes doesn't quite gel. And sometimes there's some really good reasons for that.
But it does talk to the importance of a good relationship between yourself and the staff so that you feel confident in the care that they're providing and that you've got a safe space where you can raise your concerns if necessary.
It’s a big topic and we could go on about this for a long time. If you've got questions it is probably best to book a chat online with us and we can talk you through what you should be looking for or what to expect.
Reproduced with permission of Family Aged Care Advocates
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This article is of a general nature only. No specific person’s personal objectives, needs or financial situations were taken into consideration when creating the content for this article.
Family Aged Care Advocates Pty Ltd (ABN 77 642 454 484) are aged care specialists. You should seek qualified financial planning, taxation and legal advice before making any decisions that are unique to your circumstances. This article was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions.