Page 43
MoneyMail 43CONTINUING healthcare
(CHC) funding is provided
by the NHS when a chroni-
cally ill patient meets
certain criteria.
It means the cost of care is
borne by the NHS and the
patient’s finances are not
a consideration.
Funding is awarded
regardless of the diagnosis
or whether care needs to be
given at the patient’s house
or in a nursing home.
Assessments and deci-
sions about funding are
made by local clinical com-
missioning groups (CCGs).
The NHS will provide con-
tinuing healthcare funding
only if you have complex,
severe or unpredictable
health needs.
A panel will consider the
person’s needs under 12
points, ranging from
whether they can communi-
cate, are continent and can
move and feed themselves.
The eligibility is set out in
a National Framework
outlined by the Department
of Health.
For free independent
advice, call Beacon on
0345 548 0300.funding can be later withdrawn.
The funding will cover the cost
of your care — whether it be in
your home or in a care home.
Weekly fees for dementia patients
can cost more than £1,000.
Money Mail told last year how
local health authority figures
showed a 272 pc rise in the number
of people being stripped of CHC
funding after reassessment.
Tim Davies, managing director
of Compass CHC, says his legal
firm receives around 1,000 queries
a month from people worried they
were needlessly paying for care.
‘Many people aren’t even told
this funding exists,’ he says.
Requests to the NHS for inde-
pendent reviews of decisions not
to fund have risen from 383 in
2014/15 to 949 in 2018/19, accord-
ing to the figures from Nockolds.
Daniel Winter, a partner at the
firm, says: ‘The decisions on
eligibility are not consistent across
clinical commissioning groups,
which has left chronically illpatients facing uncertainty. The
CCGs and the NHS are tightening
their belts. Their interpretation of
the guidelines has become more
and more restrictive, resulting in
some obviously deserving cases
being rejected.’
Claire Davis, director of Solicitorsfor the Elderly, says: ‘Those who
qualify as being eligible for NHS
continuing healthcare tend to be
people with a very high level of
healthcare needs, requiring sup-
port and assistance on an ongoing
basis. A huge fear for those who’ve
qualified would be having the care
taken away.’
Vivian Blowey, 86, has vascular
dementia, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease and is wheel-
chair bound. But her local CCG
will not grant her NHS funding, so
around £200,000 of her life savings
has been eaten up by care fees.
Her son, Kevin, says Vivian’s flat
in Dartford, Kent, has already
been sold to meet her care home
bills of £3,780 a month. Kevin, 63,
a retired jeweller, has had threeappeals against the decision
refused by NHS Dartford Grave-
sham and Swanley CCG. ‘I think
they’ll only pay out when they are
forced to,’ he says.
A spokesman for Dartford,
Gravesham and Swanley CCG
says: ‘Our appeal process is fair,
robust and transparent and
follows the framework set down
by the Department of Health.’
Lucy Hutchinson, 88, devoted
her working life to the NHS in her
career as a medical secretary. But
now her daughter, Anne, is fight-
ing for the NHS to pay her £5,000
monthly nursing home bills.
Lucy suffers from rare neurologi-
cal disorder stiff-person syndrome
as well as having Alzheimer’s and
diabetes. She cannot move or feed
herself without help.
When she moved into a nursing
home in late 2017, Anne applied
for continuing healthcare funding,
but was told Lucy was ineligible.
Anne, of Fareham, Hants, is
appealing the decision, but fearsher mother may not live long
enough to benefit.
Anne, 54, says: ‘My mother
worked for the NHS but we are
seeing a far darker side to it.’
A spokesman for NHS South-
ampton City CCG says it does not
comment on individual cases,
Colville Lobendhan has needed
round-the-clock care since he was
paralysed in a gardening accident
13 years ago. But Croydon CCG
stripped him of funding last year.
And as his pensions pay more
than £23,000 a year, the grandfa-
ther-of-seven has been refused
local authority funding, too.
Son Treville, 55, who is appealing
the decision, says: ‘He is depend-
ent on 24-hour care. Everything
has to be done for him.’
A NHS Croydon CCG spokesman
says Mr Lobendhan is eligible to
receive NHS-funded nursing care
of £165.56 a week. She adds:
‘Patients’ needs can and do change,
so all cases are reviewed annually.’
A NHS spokesman says: ‘NHS
spending on continuing health-
care is increasing and it is for local
health groups to manage
assessments based on demand
in their area.’
[email protected]
Last Word — Page 46THOUSANDS of dementia
patients may needlessly be
selling their homes after being
wrongly denied NHS funding,
legal experts claim.
Solicitors who specialise in fighting
for funding say not enough people
know that the NHS will pay their care
fees if they have severe medical needs.
And of those who apply for NHS
continuing healthcare (CHC) funding,
many are unfairly refused, the
lawyers claim.
Complaints from families denied the
care money have tripled in four
years, according to figures from law
firm Nockolds.
In the worst cases, local councils are
agreeing to funding and then later
taking it away, despite the patient’s
health deteriorating.
The NHS will pay for nursing care
only if you have complex, severe or
unpredictable health needs, including
advanced dementia.
But solicitors firm Farley Dwek
estimates that more than 100,000 peo-
ple are unaware they should be receiv-
ing the NHS funding and may be enti-
tled to reclaim money they’ve spent on
care. The firm says this means they
may be unnecessarily spending around
£4.8 billion of their own money on fees.
Director Andrew Farley says: ‘Millions
of people have had to sell their homes
to pay for care when had they been
considered for continuing healthcare
funding, they may have qualified.’
The Mail is campaigning to ensure
dementia patients are never forced to
sell their homes to pay for care.
At present, local councils will
contribute to the cost of your care only
if your income, savings and assets total
less than £23,250.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson
has backed our campaign and promised
to fix the social care crisis ‘once and
for all’.
Local clinical commissioning groups
(CCGs) are responsible for assessing
whether a patient is entitled to contin-
uing healthcare funding. The patient is
typically reassessed every year, soCAMPAIGN
END DEMENTIA
CARE COST
BETRAYAL
SIGN THE MAIL’S PETITION
change.org/dementiacare
How NHS could SAVE
your home if it played
fair on care funding
By Ben Wilkinson
and Fiona ParkerIt’s a little-known fact that the
NHS can pay for your care — but
be prepared for an undignified
battle to prove you are ill enough
VIVIAN: £200K
ON CARE FEES
LUCY: £5K MONTHLY
NURSING HOME COSTS
Could your
loved one
qualify?
Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 7, 2019
РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА^ "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS