Live-in care in Keynsham

If the council may help to pay, a financial assessment follows: with more than £23,250 in savings your relative would usually pay the full cost, and the home is not counted when care is at home. If someone paying the full cost asks the council to arrange their care, it adds an arrangement fee. See council funding for care.

After a hospital stay, the council may first offer reablement: short-term help at home for up to six weeks, funded by the NHS and the council. If longer-term needs are identified sooner, an assessed weekly charge can start from the date the Care Act assessment is completed, so ask about timing.

A family carer can ask for a carer’s assessment on the same number, and no financial check is needed. The council suggests the BANES Carers’ Centre as the best place to start.

On council tax (01225 477 777), ask about:

• a severe mental impairment discount, or an exemption for someone living alone, with a GP’s certificate and a qualifying benefit such as Attendance Allowance
• a full-time carer who lives with the person is not counted on the bill
• a disabled band reduction where the home has been adapted, confirmed by a home visit

Keynsham Library in the Civic Centre, Market Walk, has self-service computers and phones for council services, and council staff can help you get started.

• Carers. The BANES Carers’ Centre’s freephone support line is 0800 0388 885 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm).
• Memory and dementia. The GP can refer to the NHS Memory Clinic at the RUH, run by ReMind UK. The Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Support Bath and North East Somerset helps people with dementia and their carers, face to face or by phone (0117 472 7921, weekdays 9am to 5pm). Music for the Mind meets at St Dunstan’s Church Hall, Bristol Road, on the second and fourth Thursday of the month, 10.30am to 12.15pm; there is no charge. A drop-in dementia carers’ group meets at The Chocolate Quarter on the third Friday of the month, 10.30am to 12.30pm. See live-in care for dementia.
• Company and help at home. Age UK Bath & North East Somerset (01225 466135) runs social groups in Keynsham with transport and lunch provided, and offers up to six weeks of free help at home (Home Response).
• Getting about. Dial-a-Ride, Keynsham and District runs a door-to-door accessible minibus in Keynsham and Saltford on weekday mornings (and some villages on set days) for people who cannot use ordinary buses: register (£10), then book at least 24 hours ahead; local journeys are £5 return. Call 01225 395321 or 01225 395628 (weekdays 8am to 1pm).
• Hospice care. Dorothy House covers Bath and North East Somerset. All its services are free, including Hospice at Home (care at home in the later stages of life) and community palliative care teams, with a 10-bed inpatient unit at Winsley; you, a family member or a professional can refer through its Clinical Coordination Centre on 0345 0130 555. See end-of-life care at home.