Here at Just Caring Legal, we hear many stories about the struggles facing those who apply for NHS Continuing Health Care funding on behalf of their loved ones. The NHS CHC assessment process is extremely complex and difficult to navigate. As a result some people battle for years to get the funding they should have received. And many give up, not knowing where to turn for help or how to raise concerns. So we are delighted to be able to share some positive news we received recently from Care to be Different, a fantastic website and information resource on NHS CHC.
Best news we’ve heard in ages!
The National Audit Office, the Government’s spending watchdog, is moving NHS CHC up its agenda. In response to the many families that have contacted it with concerns, it is considering investigating NHS CHC. The NAO will start to look at NHS CHC in England early next year. This will help it decide whether to do a full investigation later in 2017.
“Although there’s no firm guarantee about an investigation, the more information [the NAO] receive now the more likely they are to take this forward with concrete action,” says Angela Sherman, founder of Care to be Different.
This means it is vital people continue to send their NHS Continuing Healthcare stories to the NAO.
Where do you start when telling your story about NHS CHC?
Most important is to focus on issues of wider significance – those that point to systemic problems. In particular, think about:
- failure by assessors to follow the National Framework;
- failure to follow case law (such as the Coughlan case);
- failure to provide adequate information to the family about the assessment process;
- failure to carry out an assessment at all and/or attempts to put the family off applying for NHS CHC;
- attempts to force a person to pay care fees before a proper assessment.
And who do you tell your story to?
People should send their stories and comments to Jenny George, Director, Health value for money studies – the email address is [email protected]
We are extremely happy to be able to pass this information on to our readers. Because when it comes to getting a fairer system for NHS CHC, every story matters.