Fast tracked into a nursing home.

By free I mean fully funded by Nhs

As above . But in t(e cases of both of my elderly parents it was via a 999 call. Mum fell over in the kitchen and when she was taken into the hospital for X-ray they found terminal advanced cancer in her stomach and bones so straight into ( free) nursing care. With dad, I was visiting him and thought he was having another stroke so I called 999. Again went straight from hospital to ( free) care as they also found terminal cancer.

Well, if there’s a care home with a vacancy that they want to go to and they are paying the fees, they can go tomorrow.

But it will all take longer if:

You need to find an appropriate home
They need to wait for a vacancy
They don’t want to go
There is nobody with Power of Attorney to make decisions
You want it part or fully funded

It’s a bit of a how long is a piece of string question.

It very much depends on where you live, availability and need. Father in Law was 48hrs Mother in Law 6 weeks ,a year apart, both from hospital when it was decided they could not return home.