Continuing healthcare funding

[grandadgrump]

I would just like to know if anybody out there is trying to claim continuing health care funding either for themselves or if somebody is trying to claim on there behalf.] The reason being is that most councils are trying to stop this funding altogether and trying to claim that your illnesses of which my mother had very many are social care issues and not health care issues.

In my mothers case she had been ill for quite a while and she was having trouble trying to swallow nobody had picked this up even her own doctor had visited her and not diagnosed the problem until she was admitted to hospital in july 2012 when after several tests the doctors told us she had cancer of the osophegus and because she was very frail they told us that they could not operate on the cancer and could only try to install a stent in the cancer growth itself to allow her to take in either liquidised food or drink supplements.

We had to put an emergency care plan together and part of the care plan was along with the nursing care was to have carers to help with the daily needs of my mother and was told this would be fully funded for 8 weeks pending an appraisal visit from a continuing healthcare representative.

She duly arrived and stayed for about 2 hours (please remember these people are out to try and save money and are looking to find anything to make sure they do not have to pay up).

My mother was not deemed ill enough to allow her this funding and was told she would have to pay for the social part of her care.

I wrote a letter back to them to formely challenge these findings and as of posting this letter I have only received one letter back stating that they have acknowledged my letter and that they had a backlog of cases to contend with and that they would be in contact as soon as possible.

Unfortunately I may not have the chance to challenge them as my mother died in April of this year but if they do bring it on.

Please remember that you CAN challenge these descisions not to grant funding if not by yourself there is always somebody willing to help.

[jfish1936]

Very hard problem!

First, the "health" system really covers illness rather than health. In 1960, I pointed out to "health officials" that food and warmth might be cheaper than repeated antibiotics for an OAP with chronic respiratory disease; they pointed out that those were social, not medical.

Second, alas, medical care is getting more capable, but more expensive. The "government" can't pay for it, except by extracting faxes from you and me.

Ungrateful as we are, we vote against them for taxing us.

I sympathise deeply with the OP here, having fought similar battles on behalf of my patients for 42 years (but still feeling that the practice of medicine can be one of the best careers to follow)

[charlottep]

Sad to hear ..ultimately there is a legal upper limit to what local authorities can provide and so it should follow that if someones needs fall above this level they should be funded by health.... I believe you can challenge decisions to the ccgs but there maybe a timescale. For this

[tinfoilhat]

Continuing care is really tough to get - although I thought the nhs paid for that rather than the council but it might vary from council to council. Might be worth ringing them.

[charlottep]

No your right it comes from a health budget if your awarded 100%chc funding however there are situations where health and social services will deem that both services have a responsibility to share the costs of a care package and they agree to pay a proportion (such as 50% each) so for the 50% that social service pay that proportion is still financially assessable to the person having the service .... Ie they may have to contribute towards the cost of their care whereas if it's 100% health funding that's awarded it would be free !

[grandadgrump]

No your right it comes from a health budget if your awarded 100%chc funding however there are situations where health and social services will deem that both services have a responsibility to share the costs of a care package and they agree to pay a proportion (such as 50% each) so for the 50% that social service pay that proportion is still financially assessable to the person having the service .... Ie they may have to contribute towards the cost of their care whereas if it's 100% health funding that's awarded it would be free !

 

Yes your partly correct about the funding but it is not always divided fairly 50-50 I would have challenged the findings regards my mother if she was still alive as I stated as far as I could have taken it.

Please remember you do not choose to be ill and this funding is supposed to be for people deemed too ill to care for themselves especially when you are bed ridden and you know you have not much time left on this earth my mother was 82 and she could have done without having to deal with this it upset her greatly.

And always check the qualifications of anybody doing the community health care visit as that was part of my objections about them not granting all her care charges.