Southampton dementia sufferer has nowhere to live, family say

The grandfather was described by his family as "a loving man whose Alzheimer's has taken over"

A man with advanced Alzheimer's has been left with nowhere to live after being evicted from four care homes and told his care needs cannot be met elsewhere, his family has said.

John Grainger, from Southampton, needs one-to-one care and was looked after by his wife until her death last year.

The 77-year-old does not qualify for council or NHS funding, and the specialist care homes that could help do not take privately funded residents.

The NHS said it was reviewing the case.

The Royal Navy veteran's condition is complex and causes him to have violent episodes that mean his relatives are unable to look after him themselves.

He recently suffered a fall and his care is being temporarily funded by the NHS while he recovers from his injuries.

Mr Grainger was cared for by his wife until she died in 2022

Local authorities can pay towards social care for those with less than £23,250 in savings but Mr Grainger, who spent more than a decade in the military before setting up his own business, is over this threshold.

His family said his care would cost about £4,000 a week and the three Hampshire care homes that offer this support do not accept privately funded residents.

But Mr Grainger's son Chris, who described his father as a "loving man whose Alzheimer's has taken over", said the issue was not about the money.

"It's about my dad being in the right place for him to have the last few years of his life, the best quality of life that he can have and whatever the cost is, the cost is," he said.

"But if we can't fund it because we're not allowed to fund it, then surely the system should be able to fund it for my dad so that he gets what he needs?"

He added: "If my dad hadn't worked seven day weeks for 40 years and hadn't put money away for the future he would have first class care."

Mr Grainger, 77, served for more than 10 years in the Royal Navy

The family applied for continuing healthcare funding from the NHS, but after four separate assessments he was ruled ineligible.

"The questions are ludicrous and written to weed out 99% of cases," Chris Grainger said.

"You have an assessor who has never met my dad, a nurse who only met him at the care home for a week or two, a social worker who has known him for half an hour."

He said the government had created a "broken system" for social care.

"There's absolutely no way that someone who has worked all of his life, and served for his country and just been a good guy should be treated this way by the system," he added.

The family said they were advised that Cornerstone Healthcare was the only care provider in Hampshire that offered the specialist help his father needed.

Chris Grainger (left) said it had become impossible to care for his father at home

In a statement, Cornerstone, which has three homes in Hampshire, said: "Due to the nature and presentation of our residents, I am afraid that we can only offer long-term placements, and do not accept privately funded residents.

"All of our residents are funded by the local authority or continuing healthcare and as such all referrals are referred to us from health professionals and commissioners."

An NHS spokesperson 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 deliver continuing healthcare services in accordance with the national framework set out by the Department of Health and Social Care."

'10-year vision'

They added: "We are unable to comment on individual cases however we can confirm that we are in contact with Mr Grainger and his family and we are reviewing the case regarding his needs."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We have a 10-year vision to reform adult social care and one of the three main objectives is to ensure people find adult social care fair and accessible.

"We have provided up to £8.1bn in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and this funding will enable local authorities to buy more care packages, help people leave hospital on time and reduce waiting times for care.

"Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals' care needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs.

"Those that do not meet the eligibility threshold can get support from their local authority to make their own care arrangements."

Southampton City Council said it could not comment on the specific case but that it would be happy to give the family "advice, assistance and guidance".

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].