Postcode lottery for help with continuing care
18/02/2011
A Which? investigation has revealed
that access to NHS continuing care funding can vary dramatically
depending on where you live.
In England and Wales if you or a
relative are in a nursing home because of your health needs and not
social needs then you shouldn’t be paying for your fees. The
average cost of care homes is a possible £1,000 a week, so the
costs of footing the bill can spiral.
Freedom of Information (FOI)
requests submitted by Which? to 152 Primary Care Trusts in England,
and their equivalents in Scotland and Wales, together with analysis
of government data reveals a huge variation between areas. Examples
include; Mid Essex PCT who fund 14 people out of every 50,000,
while Plymouth Teaching PCT funds 109 in every 50,000. Sheffield
currently pays for 112, while Oxfordshire now pays for 25 people in
every 50,000.
Which? has found that guidance on
who should receive this funding varies dramatically and many people
simply don’t get the right information.
Lisa Morgan, Senior Associate with
the Specialist Nursing Care Team at leading law firm Hugh James,
turned detective for the Which? team and searched 10 randomly
selected Primary Care Trust and health board websites across the UK
for information about accessing funding.
Shockingly in 8 out of the 10 cases
she struggled. 6 out of 10 scored very poorly, with little or no
information at all, while only 2 out of 10 were ‘satisfactory’ or
‘good’.
Lisa says: “I see families
struggling to get clear information at a traumatic time, including
those who have a relative whose continuing care package has been
withdrawn because they no longer tick the right box…”
“Challenging your right to
continuing care can be a hard and long process. But if you are
persistent and your case is presented well and argued thoroughly,
you can win. We win repayments for clients every week.”
The full article from Which? is
available in the latest copy of the magazine, the March 2011
edition or click here to read the online version:
Postcode lottery for care fees of neediest