B P Collins Solicitors: talk to the experts
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The Department of Health has recently published a framework to help streamline the health system for National Health Service (NHS) Continuing Care and NHS Registered Nursing Care, according to reports out this week.
The single system will determine people's eligibility for long term NHS healthcare, having been shaped by close public consultation from voluntary groups, patient/user groups and professional bodies. It will abolish the different nursing bands for free nursing care, helping to free up more time for nurses and cutting down on repeated patient assessments.
There are currently around 31,000 people who receive NHS Continuing Care in England and around 70% of care home residents already have some or all of their personal costs paid by public money.
Sue Normanton, elder law solicitor at B P Collins comments: "The new system should be more convenient for both patients and professionals, and it will help to include those who were previously excluded, such as younger adults with long-term neurological conditions and older people with dementia."
The changes are likely to make funding decisions fairer, faster and easier to understand, with the Care Services Minister, Ivan Lewis commenting: "We understand that families do make difficult and emotional decisions when someone has to go into residential care, and this is made worse by having to consider how this will be funded. He concludes: "The new framework will provide thousands of people in England with more help towards their care costs."
Sue adds: "This clear legal framework will remove the risk of the current postcode lottery. If the eligibility criteria is uniform across the country, the application of the new rules may mean that people don't fall through the net and end up paying for care in one area, that in another may be paid for by the NHS." The date for implementation has been set as 1 October 2007.
