Hampshire veteran with Alzheimer's 'has nowhere to live'

Christopher Grainger, 77, often gets confused and violent, lashing out at times - and won’t allow carers to help him with his personal hygiene or to dress him.

His son Chris, 47, has been told his dad - who goes by the name John - is just too difficult to manage and needs one-to-one care which the family say they cannot afford.

A five-month stay with one-to-one help has landed Chris with a bill of £48,300 to pay for his dad's care.

The family is ineligible for NHS funding as John has savings of more than £23,000.

'A loving man'

Chris told the Echo: "I'm just so tired with all this. It's ridiculous that we have to be put in this situation.

"If my dad didn’t have a penny to his name and hadn’t worked seven days a week for 40 years, he would have been sat in a funded home, getting first-class care.

"It's not honouring his hard work.

"He’s a loving man whose Alzheimer's has taken over him."

Several care homes

After developing Alzheimer’s, John was looked after by his wife Diane in their Netley home until her death in March last year.

His only son Chris then took over his care and John spent four months with him and his wife Mylene in Netley.

Chris said: “Every day was a war and trying to clean and toilet him was a full-time job, and almost impossible for us.

“It would take all my strength to hold my dad, while my wife did his personal care. We were punched and hit, and basically at breaking point.”

When it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to stay for much longer, Chris was advised by adult social care services at Hampshire County Council to find a care home.

Christopher 'John' Grainger with his late wife Diane and grandson Casey (Image: Chris Grainger)

In August last year, the grandfather went into self-funded care at Brook Vale House in Portswood but only stayed there for eight weeks.

After that, he was offered a place at South Haven Lodge in Woolston but nine days later he was taken to hospital due to safeguarding concerns.

There, an assessment was made to find out if he qualified for free social care arranged and funded by the NHS.

An assessor from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) ruled he did not meet the criteria because his savings were worth more than £23,250.

At the end of October 2022, John moved into the Bupa care home Wilton Manor in Southampton but after just five months, his son Chris was told his dad's care would be withdrawn unless the family paid for one-to-one care.

This is priced at £24 per hour for 15 hours a day, which, on top of the care home's regular rate of £1,500 per week, works out at £4,020 per week.

John left Wilton Manor in July and was turned down for NHS support following a second assessment.

Christopher 'John' Grainger with his grandson Casey (Image: Chris Grainger)

However, on this occasion, the social worker who had been working with the family asked for the case to be reviewed at a panel.

Held under Southampton City Council, which Wilton Manor falls under, the panel found John did meet the criteria and should get all the funding.

But as John used to live in Netley, which falls under Hampshire County Council's adult social care responsibility, Chris was told this was invalid and a review would now have to be done by the county council instead.

John was temporarily moved to a care home in Surrey but after he was found unresponsive, he was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he remains today.

John joined the Navy at the age of 16 and served as an aircraft mechanic for various ships for more than 10 years.

In 1975, he set up a business called Grainger Travel driving children with special needs to school and adults to day centres. He retired in 2015 and handed the reins over to Chris.

'Much-loved resident'

Danni Davies, managing director of Wilton Manor care home said: “Mr Grainger has been a much-loved resident and we very much enjoyed him staying at the home.

“Our priority is providing the highest standard of care to keep all our residents healthy, safe and well.

"When we welcome a new resident, our expert clinical team makes an assessment of their individual circumstances and creates an individualised care plan.

"Care plans and costs are always agreed with our residents and their families, and where a resident’s needs increase or change, we discuss this with families.

“We know finding the right support for a loved one with complex care needs can be distressing, particularly as public funding solutions can be difficult to navigate.

"Our priority is the health and wellbeing of our residents and we are working closely with Mr Grainger’s family to reach a resolution.”

'Very complex' cases

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB said: “Our Continuing Health Care Service works very hard to ensure patients receive the ongoing care that they need however some cases are very complex and require coordination across a number of services and providers including local authorities and the private sector.

“We are unable to comment on individual cases however we are in contact with Mr Grainger and his family regarding his needs.”

'It is always heart-wrenching'

A spokesperson for Southampton Veterans Trust said: "As a veterans charity we empathise with the family, and hope we might able to offer some support and contacts. 

"It is always heart-wrenching to hear stories like this and the complexity and cost of support is often prohibitive for the family and subsequently authorities who try to require others to cover the cost. 

"Further, for the non-serving or non-veteran members of the family, it can be very difficult to get information on the services available through the NHS and other charities.  Work is being done to make the UK the best country for veterans to live in, and we all want this to be the case."