The Sydney Morning Herald: Pulling Out of Residential Aged Care: What are your rights?

Are you concerned about a loved one in residential care? With more than 80 reports of infections linked to residential care now, many families with relatives in residential aged care homes are becoming increasingly concerned over health risks at the facilities. So, what happens if you decide you want to remove a resident from residential aged care? What are your rights?

July 16, 2020

Emergency Leave

You can use a new scheme called ’emergency leave’ which is now available for permanent aged care residents. If you take “emergency leave”, both you and the government will continue to pay the standard fees, charges and subsidies to the aged care provider, whilst they hold a place for you. Other leave options include ‘social leave’ and ‘hospital leave’.

Every resident can take 52 days of “social leave” a year, which means you could go away every weekend if you wanted. Outings, visits and events that you attend and return from on the same day are not counted as “social leave” – only overnight stays. Meanwhile ‘hospital leave’ is unlimited. 

You can pull out without penalty

If you simply want to move out or take your loved one out of residential care, you actually can do so without penalty. A lot of people mistakenly believe they will lose some or all of the lump sum they have paid, or that they need to wait for the nursing home to find a new resident before they get their money back.

No matter which option you prefer, Prestige Inhome Care have flexible support and nursing options which can provide temporary and long-term care for your loved one at home. We can help you understand the best way to manage taking ‘leave’ from a residential facility or making the move from a nursing home to in-home care permanently.

Call our Care Specialist team on 1300 10 30 10 to find out more.

To read the full article click here