Daniel, 82, and his wife Estella, 93, are a lovely couple who had no children or other family. Despite their age, they were very independent. However, with the arrival of Covid in 2020, they found it difficult to cope. They forgot to take their medication and ended up consuming spoiled food as they began to self-neglect.

Realising they were not coping, they sought emergency respite care at a local dementia home. Arriving with limited belongings, they had no money to support themselves. The estate agent in charge of selling their property contacted us for assistance. Due to Covid restrictions, Daniel and Estella were initially confined to one room, which, combined with their cognitive issues resulting from malnutrition and lack of medication, led them to become extremely paranoid, feeling as if they were being held against their will.

We met with them and it became obvious that they were not in the right place, we also learned that they hadn’t been properly assessed by a GP upon arrival. Recognizing that moving them back home was not yet a stable option, we relocated them to a more suitable care home for additional respite care. After three weeks of diligent care, they were deemed ready to return home.

To ensure their well-being, we arranged for caregivers who could assist them with eating and medication. We also organized food delivery and implemented postal redirection services. We successfully obtained attendance allowance for both of them and maintained daily contact with their caregivers. We also took care of their financial matters, handled medical appointments, and acted as intermediaries with their GP whenever they were feeling unwell.

They were overjoyed to be back home and decided to take their house off the market. Sadly, Daniel died around 6 months later however we were pleased to have enabled them to spend that additional time together in their own home.  We continue to assist Estella who has now moved into permanent residential care and we have dealt successfully with the sale of her property and investment of her sale proceeds to provide for a care fees annuity to ensure she can remain in the care home that she is settled in for the rest of her days.