The letter
It usually arrives without warning and with a notice period in it. The wording is nearly always one of three things: your mother’s needs have increased beyond what the home can meet; her behaviour is a risk to others; or the fees are unpaid or disputed.
Whatever the reason, the panic is the same — she has to be somewhere in four weeks and nobody has told you where.
Before you do anything else, answer one question, because it changes everything that follows.
The question that decides everything: who arranged the placement?
If the council arranged or funds it
Then this is not your emergency to solve alone. Where a local authority has assessed someone as having eligible needs and arranged the placement, that duty to meet the needs does not disappear because a provider gives notice. The council has to find a suitable alternative.
So the first call is not to other homes. It is to adult social care at the council, asking for the duty desk, and the sentence to use is: "The home has served notice, my mother has eligible needs, and I am asking the local authority to meet its duty and arrange an alternative placement." Follow it with an email the same day so there is a record.
Ask at the same time for a reassessment of needs. If her needs really have increased, that is precisely what should drive both the new placement and the funding.
If she is self-funding
Then the contract governs — but you are not without protection. Contract terms have to be fair and transparent under consumer law, and competition guidance for care homes is explicit that notice terms must be reasonable and clearly explained. A term that lets a home evict at very short notice, or that was never pointed out, is challengeable.
And there is a second route people miss: if her money is running low or her needs have increased, ask the council for a needs assessment now. Self-funders are entitled to one, and it is what puts the council in the picture before the money runs out rather than after.
What to demand, in writing, this week
- The specific needs they say they cannot meet. Not "increased needs" — which needs, and why they fall outside what this home is registered and staffed to provide. A home is registered with the regulator for particular regulated activities; asking them to state the gap in writing is asking them to stand behind a regulatory statement, and it often changes the conversation.
- What they tried first. A district nurse referral, a GP medication review, a falls assessment, a mental health referral. A home that has served notice without trying anything is in a weak position with both the council and the ombudsman.
- The notice clause itself, quoted from the contract, with the date it starts.
- Written confirmation that she will not be moved until a suitable placement is available. No home can simply put a frail resident out with nowhere to go, and asking for that in writing puts a stop to informal pressure to "take her home for now".
If a deprivation of liberty authorisation is in place, say so: a move requires that to be reviewed, and it is another reason a discharge cannot simply be executed on a date.
The route most families never hear about
If the home will not engage, or the council drags its feet, the escalation is not just a strongly worded letter. In England the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about councils and about independent adult social care providers — including where the care was paid for privately. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own equivalents.
Two practical notes: you normally have to go through the provider’s or council’s complaints process first, and there is a time limit for bringing a complaint. So start the formal complaint now, in parallel with everything else — not after the move.
Separately, tell the regulator. The regulator will not resolve your individual case, but a pattern of notices served for needs a home should be able to meet is exactly the kind of intelligence that shapes an inspection.
If it is really about money
Notice served over a fee dispute is a different animal, and usually more negotiable. Ask for a full written statement of what is owed and what it is for; check whether a top-up was agreed and, if so, whether it was ever lawful — a top-up cannot be charged where a council-arranged placement is meant to meet needs within the personal budget, and cannot come from the resident’s own money except in limited circumstances. Fee disputes have been withdrawn on exactly that point.
Do not agree to take her home "just for now"
It is the most common mistake, and the most costly. Once she is at home, the pressure lifts off everyone else and lands entirely on you — and a person discharged into a home that cannot support her is very often back in A and E within weeks.
If there is genuinely nowhere for her to go on the notice date, say so in writing to the council and ask them to record it as an urgent case. That sentence, on paper, moves things.
The practical point
Establish who arranged the placement, put the duty back where it belongs if it is the council, demand the specific unmet needs in writing, open the formal complaint now rather than later, and refuse an unsafe discharge home.
And start looking in parallel — notice periods do not pause while you argue. Curalune Care Help gives you the starting point: 3 to 5 suitable homes matched to the real situation within 24 working hours, with contact details, links and a ready-to-send message to all of them at once. £69, one-off. If you don't receive at least 3 homes matching the area and criteria you gave us, we refund you in full. Start here
Duties, notice requirements, complaint routes, ombudsman jurisdiction and time limits differ across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and are revised regularly; notice periods and fee terms are set in each individual contract. Free advice is available from Age UK, Citizens Advice and your council’s adult social care service, and independent legal advice is worth taking before you agree to any move. This article is general information and is not legal or medical advice. Curalune does not allocate places and does not guarantee availability.
