Care Necessities Limited

17/11/2025

💛 Seeing the Carer, Not Just the Person being Cared For 💛
By Stephanie Ford, Senior Advocate – Care Necessities

"When we talk about advocacy, we often focus on the person receiving care—and rightly so. But sometimes, the person holding it all together behind the scenes needs our support too.

Meet Bob, husband and devoted carer to Elizabeth. When we worked together to secure NHS CHC funding, we didn’t just get a substantive 24/7 home care package worth almost £6,000 per week for Elizabeth—we also had to consider Bob’s wellbeing.

Bob agreed to be an unpaid carer, topping up the home care package himself. Day and night, he is there for Elizabeth whenever she needs him. But long-term, this level of dedication places an enormous risk of carer burnout.

That’s where advocacy comes in. We fought for Bob to be seen, to have his needs recognised. And we succeeded. The NHS has now agreed that Bob gets one day off a week, with another carer stepping in.

This may sound small, but for Bob, it means he can play golf, have a meal with family or friends, or simply take time for himself. When I received his email, recently describing how wonderful his day on the golf course had been, I felt something truly profound. Advocacy isn’t just about care packages for those in need—it’s about quality of life for their carers too.

With a background in health, I know how easy it is to focus only on the patient. But as an advocate, I get to see the bigger picture, support the whole family, and make a difference for both Elizabeth and Bob.

Bob’s story is a reminder: even the strongest carers need care and support too. And when we step in, we can make that possible. To make such a difference to Elizabeth and to Bob, is why every day I do what I do."

17/11/2025

💔 Sarah’s Story: When Hospital Care Isn’t Enough 💔

Sarah is a young woman with autism and moderate learning disabilities. She doesn’t always show when she’s unwell, and she struggles to communicate her needs—especially in unfamiliar environments.

What should have been a 1–2 day hospital stay for a urinary tract infection quickly became a nightmare. Alone and in distress, Sarah wouldn’t eat, drink, or take her medication from staff who were rushing. Despite staff doing their best, her condition deteriorated dramatically.

By the time we stepped in, Sarah had developed sepsis. She was extremely unwell and unable to speak for herself. What she needed was someone who knew her, understood her, and could advocate for her.

Once we became involved, we fought for funding so that Sarah could have a 1-on-1 carer with her for part of the day. With that support, she was soon able to take her medication, eat, drink, and gradually recover. Within a week, she was picking up—but all of this could have been prevented if her needs had been understood and prioritised from the start.

The lesson is clear: people with learning disabilities can deteriorate much faster in hospital if their care needs aren’t understood. Whenever possible, preventing a hospital admission is best. But if hospitalisation is necessary, families and advocates must keep staff informed and ensure care plans reflect the patient’s true needs.

Sarah’s story isn’t unique. Many patients like her are at risk every day—but advocacy can save lives. Sarah is now three weeks on back at home. And while she is still on some medication to treat the after effects of all of this, the most important thing was to get her back home.

💡 If you know someone with learning disabilities entering hospital, don’t wait. Speak up, share their needs, and make sure they are heard. And if you need our help to make sure you are heard, then please reach out to us. More needs to be done for those with learning disabilities in our society!

28/10/2025

💙 Could Your Loved One Be Paying for Care They Shouldn’t Have To? 💙

For years, Mrs W has been living in a care home with dementia —paying over £6,000 every single month since 2017. That’s more than half a million pounds spent on essential care she desperately needs.
But here’s the thing… much of that care should have been fully funded by the NHS.

When we first met Mrs W, she was receiving 24-hour care and displaying clear signs that her needs might meet the threshold for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)—a funding package that covers the full cost of care for those with a primary health need.

Yet despite her complex presentation, no one had applied for CHC funding on her behalf.
When we reviewed her care home records, it was clear why: the documentation didn’t fully reflect her daily challenges.

👉 Instances of distress during personal care and repositioning weren’t being recorded.
👉 Moments where she became physically resistant or put items in her mouth—signs of anxiety and confusion—were happening but not noted.
👉 Her emotional state, and the level of reassurance and intervention needed from staff, often went unmentioned.

Without that evidence, her care needs appeared far less significant on paper than they truly were in reality.

So before applying for CHC, we worked closely with the care home team—guiding them to improve their record keeping to meet the standards the NHS requires.

Only once the daily care logs genuinely reflected Mrs W’s needs did we move forward with the CHC assessment.

And we’re so proud to share that…
✨ Mrs W has now been awarded full NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. ✨

That means her £6,000 monthly fees are now covered in full—a huge financial relief and recognition of the level of care she has always required.

This funding will be reviewed in 3 months’ time, and if her needs remain the same, it will continue with annual reviews thereafter.

But we’re not stopping there.

We are now investigating whether Mrs W should have been receiving this funding long before now—potentially as far back as 2017. If successful, she could be entitled to a significant reimbursement for the years she’s been paying privately when she shouldn’t have had to.

💔 Mrs W’s story isn’t unique.
There are countless people like her—quietly paying for care that, by law, should be free. Families often don’t know what to look for, or how to challenge the system, and many care homes simply don’t have the expertise to navigate CHC requirements.

At Care Necessities, we make sure no one falls through the cracks. We guide families and care providers through the process, ensure the records truly reflect the care being delivered, and fight for the funding your loved one deserves.

📣 If your loved one is in a care home—especially if they have complex needs—don’t assume they’re not eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. Let us help you find out.

💬 Message us today to arrange a consultation. We’ll look beyond the paperwork, uncover the full picture, and help secure the funding and dignity your loved one is entitled to. ❤️

25/10/2025

💔 Do You Really Know What’s Happening in Your Loved One’s Care Home?💔

Some of what we see during our visits truly breaks our hearts.

This week, one of our advocates witnessed a lady—not even our client—ask a carer to help her eat her lunch because she couldn’t hold the cutlery due to severe arthritis in her fingers. The carer simply chopped up her food, handed her the spoon, and told her to “try.”

After several painful attempts, the lady sighed, gave up, and fell asleep hungry.

Our advocate couldn’t stand by any longer. She found the senior carer, who came to help—and the lady’s face lit up with relief as she was finally supported to eat. We hadn’t even been asked to visit that lady but we could not stand by and watch her not eat, because she couldn’t 💔

Sadly, that wasn’t the only moment that raised concern for us this week.

We also saw a lady—already losing weight—have her plate taken away halfway through her meal because she was eating “too slowly.” No one asked if she had finished, or even wanted dessert. Again our advocate pointed this out as a reason for probable weight loss.

And another lady with dementia was being hoisted with no explanation or reassurance —only for the carer to shout at her when she became frightened and lashed out at them in confusion.

These are not isolated incidents.

These are real moments happening in real care homes—places where these individuals are paying £5,000+ a month expecting compassionate, dignified care.

📣 Just because the records look perfect or the staff are pleasant when you visit, doesn’t mean the care for your loved one is.

At Care Necessities, we witness these issues daily. Our advocates see beyond the paperwork and observe what’s really happening. We also step in when we can’t not.

We provide honest, independent feedback so families can have peace of mind—or take action when care is falling short.

If you’re worried your loved one might not be getting the care they deserve, let us visit and report back to you.

We’ll give you the truth—good or bad—so you can be confident your loved one’s needs are truly being met.

💬 Message us today to arrange a visit, and let us tell you what your loved one can’t❤️

05/09/2025

💙 “The NHS may be able to pay for ALL of your loved one’s care costs – not you.”

If someone you love has complex care needs after a personal injury or medical negligence, you might not need to use compensation money to cover their care.

They could be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding – which means the NHS covers the cost of their care in full.

At Care Necessities, we help families and solicitors:
✅ Review care plans to check if CHC might apply
✅ Carry out full assessments of your loved one’s needs
✅ Handle applications and appeals with the NHS

Too many families are left paying out of pocket or using up settlements, when the NHS should be funding care. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.

📩 Send us a message today to see if we can help you or your solicitor explore NHS CHC funding.

24/06/2025

🔍 Do You Really Know What’s Happening in Your Loved One’s Care Home?

Recent findings at Red Oaks Care Home in Nottingham are a stark reminder of the risks residents may face behind closed doors. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has placed the home in special measures following serious concerns about safety and care standards.

⚠️ A coroner issued a formal warning after the tragic death of Maureen Powell, a resident who developed a fatal pressure ulcer due to failures in basic care.

Other critical issues identified include:
🚨 Faulty fire alarms and scalding risks from the hot water system
💊 Missed or delayed medication doses
🦠 Poor infection control and PPE usage
📉 Inadequate staff training and safeguarding
📁 Lost or destroyed records, and lack of communication with families

These are not just policy breaches — they are life-threatening failures.

💬 Families often trust that care homes are safe environments, but oversight can fail, and vulnerable people may suffer in silence.

👁️ That’s why Care Necessities offers independent Welfare Visits — giving families peace of mind with eyes and ears on the ground. We can spot early warning signs, raise formal concerns, and help prevent neglect before it turns tragic.

👉 If your loved one is in a care home — even one rated ‘Good’ — regular, informed visits matter more than ever. Especially when the stakes are this high.

📞 Contact us today to discuss our Welfare Visit Service. Protect their dignity. Safeguard their future.

Date of report: 11/06/2025 Ref: 2025-0293 Deceased name: Maureen Powell Coroners name: Gordon Clow Coroners Area: Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Category: Care Home Health related deaths This report is being sent to: Red Oaks Care Community REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT DEATHS THI...

22/06/2025

🆘 At Breaking Point: The Crisis in Care Assessments 🆘

This week, like so many others, we’ve been contacted by families in absolute distress. Their loved ones are in urgent need of care — but they’re hitting brick walls at every turn. Many are at breaking point. 💔

A care needs assessment and a care and support plan — which everyone is entitled to, regardless of financial circumstances — should be the first step. These tools are there to help determine what’s needed and get appropriate care in place, whether at home or in a care home.

But instead:
❌ Social workers don’t return calls.
❌ Urgent assessments are taking 6 months or more.
❌ People are left without any support at the most vulnerable times in their lives.

These delays aren’t just bureaucratic frustrations — they’re dangerous.

👉 We’ve seen older people admitted to hospital with severe infections from poor self-care, simply because no support was arranged.
👉 We've supported people with dementia who’ve wandered off or harmed themselves while waiting for care packages that never arrived.
👉 Carers are collapsing from exhaustion, juggling full-time work and round-the-clock care with zero outside help.

This is not just unsustainable — it’s inhumane. And it’s costing lives. 😔

This system must change.

We urgently need:
✅ Investment in social care staffing and capacity
✅ Transparent timelines for assessments and follow-ups
✅ A national commitment to uphold people’s legal rights to care assessments — not just in theory, but in practice

Families should not have to fight or wait months for the basic care and support their loved ones need to live with dignity.

🗣️ If you’ve experienced this, you are not alone. Share your story, tag your MP, and help us call for real change. We can’t let these failures continue.

21/06/2025

🧐 Ever wondered if hospital discharge is really the end of care? It’s not. Discharging a loved one before everything’s fully checked, or without proper support, can lead to serious setbacks — even readmission, harm, or worse.

📊 The numbers are stark:

1 in 5 patients experience an adverse event within 3 weeks of leaving hospital—such as medication errors or missed follow-ups.
50–60% of discharged patients have a medication mix-up, and nearly 20% suffer actual harm.
In England, over 1 million people are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, costing the NHS around £2.4 billion annually.
A stunning 35–40% of intermediate-care users bounce back to hospital within 6 weeks due to lack of rehab or support.

💔 Here’s what real patient stories in the news teach us right now:

“Within two weeks of discharge… wrong medications… blood seeping from wounds… it should have been stopped about five different ways.” — family of Mrs O

“In England last month, almost 14,000 people were ready to be discharged but could not be sent home or into care.” Office for National Statistics (ONS)

👉 Key vulnerabilities in the discharge process:

Medication errors – wrong prescriptions, inadequate guidance.
Poor communication – missing info or delayed sharing with GPs/carers.
Inadequate community support – referrals not made or rehab absent/incomplete.
No assessment of need or consideration of NHS CHC funding entitlement (which would mean they are no longer subjected to means tested contributions for care).

✅ What you can do to help your loved one:

Ask for a full discharge checklist: meds, follow-up appointments, support services.
Verify medication reconciliation: Are all meds listed, explained, and correct?
Insist on care planning: Is community nursing, physio, or rehab in place before leaving?
Ask what assessments have taken place and if they haven’t, insist that they do before discharge.
Stay informed & advocate: Be present during discharge planning—ask more questions.

📣 Share this if you believe safe, structured discharges should be the standard—not the exception.

Join the conversation:
🙋‍♂️ Have you or a loved one faced a failed discharge? What was missed?
🩺 For healthcare professionals—what one change would make discharge days safer?

🧠 Let’s build confidence so no one goes home unprepared. Care doesn’t end at discharge—it begins there. 💙

20/06/2025

💙 A Story of Dignity, Support & Legacy 💙

When Mrs. R was preparing to leave hospital and enter a care home, her family faced the daunting reality so many others do: the potential loss of the family home to pay for her care fees.

But this story had a very different outcome.

Working closely with Mrs. R’s attorney and her devoted son, Mr. R, we helped secure full NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding — before she was discharged. We didn’t stop there. We were by their side through every annual review over the next five years, making sure her funding remained in place.

The results?

🏡 Mrs. R’s home in Hertfordshire was never sold.
📈 Instead, Mr. R was able to rent it out, generating £1,000 a month in income.
💷 Over 5 years, that’s £60,000 in rental income – all while we helped secure £300,000 in care funding (at £5,000/month).

That's a total of £360,000 that stayed in Mrs. R's estate — not handed over in care fees. As well as keeping a property worth £450,000, to pass on to beneficiaries.

When Mrs. R sadly passed away, her family had peace of mind knowing her wishes were honoured, her dignity preserved, and her legacy protected.

💭 If you're supporting a loved one entering or currently in care, it is possible to navigate the system with the right help.

You’re not alone — reach out for guidance if you need it, just like Mr. R did.

19/06/2025

🛡️ Caring for Loved Ones: Prevent Pressure Sores Before They Strike 🛡️

Pressure sores (also called bedsores or pressure ulcers) affect people with reduced mobility or those confined to beds or wheelchairs. Here’s what to look out for if you know someone who is in need of/in receipt of care.

🔍 What to Watch For
Look for early warning signs on bony areas—heels, hips, tailbone, elbows, shoulder blades:

Patches of skin that stay red, purple, or discoloured when pressed
Skin that feels warm, spongy, hard, painful, or itchy
Blisters, open wounds, or persistent tenderness
Early detection is key—these sores can develop within hours .

🧠 What Causes Them
Pressure sores result from:

Pressure — prolonged weight on bony parts cuts off blood flow
Friction — skin rubbing against fabrics or bedding damages delicate tissue
Shear — sliding in bed or a chair causes skin to stretch or tear
Moisture — sweat, incontinence, or wound drainage softens skin, increasing injury risk

✅ Quick Prevention Tips
🕒 Reposition regularly
Every 1–2 hours in bed, every 15–30 minutes in a chair
🛏️ Use pressure-relieving aids
Alternating air mattresses, gel cushions, heel protectors—no “donut” pads!
💧 Skin care & hygiene
Keep skin clean, dry, moisturised; use gentle cleansers and barrier creams

🍽️ Nutrition & hydration
Ensure plenty of fluids, protein, vitamins & minerals to support skin health
🚭 Avoid smoking
Smoking hampers circulation and slows wound healing

🚨 If You Spot an Area of Concern
🗣️ Speak up immediately to your care provider or GP
Urgently seek help if you notice:
Pus, increased redness/swelling, fever, or pain
Early treatment could include: mattress/cushion prescription, dressings, creams, or antibiotics

❤️ How Care Necessities Can Help
At Care Necessities, we support families and carers with:
Obtaining Specialist advice or equipment, for example accessing air/foam mattresses, gel/foam cushions, heel protectors
Obtaining Skin care kits: cleansers, barrier creams, moisturisers
Offering advice on repositioning strategies, and skin monitoring

Let us help you reduce the risk and care with confidence. Visit www.care‑necessities.co.uk or message us directly—together, we’ll help you to keep your loved ones safe and comfortable.

15/06/2025

🚨 Elder Abuse: What You Need to Know Now

Recent data shows that 1 in 6 older adults worldwide experience some form of abuse each year—and in England and Wales alone, around 375,000 people aged 60+ reported domestic abuse between April 2022 and March 2023.

What exactly is elder abuse?
It includes physical, emotional, sexual, financial abuse, neglect, and abandonment—often by someone close, like a partner, child, caregiver, or relative .

🔍 Warning Signs Loved Ones Should Watch For

Physical Abuse:
Unexplained bruises, broken bones, burns, or pressure sores
Recurrent injuries with vague explanations.

Emotional & Psychological Abuse:
Sudden withdrawal, anxiety, depression, or acting “cowed”
Hesitant to speak openly, overly fearful, or avoiding certain people.

Financial Exploitation:
Sudden unfamiliar withdrawals, missing valuables, unexplained financial changes
Caregiver showing sudden wealth (new gadgets, money).

Neglect:
Poor hygiene, bedsores, malnutrition, untreated medical issues
Living conditions become unsafe or unsanitary.

✅ How You Can Help
Stay alert & connected — Regularly visit, call, or video chat with elderly loved ones.
Ask gentle questions — “I noticed you’ve been quieter lately; is everything okay?”
Verify their finances — With permission, monitor bank statements or look out for missing items.
Support their independence — Help them access community services or legal advice.
Report concerns — Contact Adult Protective Services, GP, social services, or the police if you suspect abuse.

💙 Let’s stand up for our elders
This is a hidden and growing issue—and your attention can make a lifesaving difference. Please like, comment, or share this post with anyone who might benefit. For more support contact us. We’re here to help keep families safe.

08/06/2025

💷 Care Costs & Local Authority Thresholds – What You Need to Know for Your Loved One 💷

Do you have a parent, partner or relative in care or about to go into care? Here's a crucial point many families miss:

👉 If your loved one has more than £23,250 in savings, they’re likely to self-fund their care.
👉 Below this amount, they may be eligible for local authority support — but only after a formal financial assessment.

📋 When should you request a financial assessment?
➡️ After needs have been addressed in the first instance.
➡️ As soon as care needs arise or a move into residential care is discussed, and CHC has been considered.
➡️ When your loved one is discharged from hospital into care, and they do not have eligibility for CHC funding.
➡️ If there’s a significant drop in assets (due to care costs, for example).
➡️ If you're acting as an Attorney or Deputy for someone under a Power of Attorney or Court of Protection.

⚠️ What can go wrong if you don’t act?

The local authority may refuse to backdate support, meaning you lose out on months of funding.
You could end up paying thousands in unnecessary fees.
The wrong care setting might be chosen based on affordability, not needs.
Your loved one’s home could be sold prematurely when it might have been protected.
Deprivation of assets rules could be triggered if financial planning wasn’t done correctly.

💡 Top Tip: Always check whether your loved one may qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding (CHC) before starting a financial assessment — this funding is non-means-tested and could cover 100% of their care fees.

📞 Need help navigating financial assessments, CHC funding or protecting your loved one’s assets? We’re here to help.

🔍 Message us or call for a friendly chat about your options — don’t leave your loved one’s future to chance.