Reclaim Care Home Costs for Free- New MSE guide

monkeyspanner

Spacker wrote: »

My great aunt age 96 was admitted to hospital for a fall and long-lay during which she had a heart attack. She was in hospital for a month, lost weight developed an infection and was finally moved out to a nearby nursing home. Pallative care paid the first six months of fees and she then took over the payments. She died in the home in October last year after spending nearly all her savings on care home fees. I assume this claim deadline is final with no extension?

Actually you can still make a claim for the period 1/4/2011 to 31/3/2012 as long as you get the request in prior to 31/3/13. Presumeably the period from 1/4/2012 to october 2012 would also be a availble to claim.
The deadline refered to in this thrread relates to periods prior to 1/4/2011.
A simple holding letter to the relevant department would probably suffice until you can get the paperwork together.

sunsetboulevard

Can anybody explain to me what a complex, intense or unpredictable need is? Thanks.

monkeyspanner

From what I have gathered over various discussion with medical staff

Complex - More than one condition with possible interaction. Sometimes where treatment for one condition worsens or affects another.

Intense - Where a condition causes severe effects and requires frequent intevention.

Unpredictable - Where conditions are unstable and difficult to control.

It should be understood that the National Framework accepts that "a well controlled need is still a need". So even if all the Complex, Intense and unpredictable medical conditions and well controlled they should still be assessed. This is not at times accepted by the medical and lay staff undertaking the CHC assessments.

sunsetboulevard

Thanks for that, MonkeySpanner.

noelphobic

noelphobic wrote: »

I am still waiting for my claim to be looked at (long story). I was under the impression that PCTS were due to be disbanded this month. Does anyone know if this is correct and, if so, who will be dealing with outstanding claims?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

sorry for quoting myself here but - does anyone know?

monkeyspanner

noelphobic wrote: »

sorry for quoting myself here but - does anyone know?

In England the PCTs are being disbanded and most of their tasks are being transferred to the GP commissioning organisations. Where the CHC responsibility will lie is anybody's guess. The deadline was applied to allow the CHC portfolio to be handed over fairly up to date but in reality it will be transferred with a huge backlog of retrospective claims. The last figurre I heard was 60,000.

noelphobic

monkeyspanner wrote: »

In England the PCTs are being disbanded and most of their tasks are being transferred to the GP commissioning organisations. Where the CHC responsibility will lie is anybody's guess. The deadline was applied to allow the CHC portfolio to be handed over fairly up to date but in reality it will be transferred with a huge backlog of retrospective claims. The last figurre I heard was 60,000.

Thanks monkeyspanner. The last communication I had from them was to say it had been delayed as they had a deadline to deal with recent claims. Mine dates back to 2010! If and when I chase them up are the contact numbers still likely to be 'live' do you know? Don't want to be going all around the houses to find out who I need to speak to!

John_Pierpoint

Is there a statutory requirement to pay interest on delayed payments ?

[ie similar to a tax dispute or compensation for a statutory nuisance].

monkeyspanner

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Is there a statutory requirement to pay interest on delayed payments ?

[ie similar to a tax dispute or compensation for a statutory nuisance].

This article suggests interest at 8% is payable but I am not sure if there is legal underpinning for this. I will keep looking.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2292316/Tens-thousands-families-face-battle-14-years-recover-wrongly-charged-care-costs.html

monkeyspanner

noelphobic wrote: »

Thanks monkeyspanner. The last communication I had from them was to say it had been delayed as they had a deadline to deal with recent claims. Mine dates back to 2010! If and when I chase them up are the contact numbers still likely to be 'live' do you know? Don't want to be going all around the houses to find out who I need to speak to!

Sorry I cannot give you a definitive answer. I have found this document which indicates that in June 2012 it was intended that the new CCGs (Clinical Commisioning Groups) would take over CHC including all outstanding matters back to 2004 from April 2013.
http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ccg-phb.pdf

Whether this is still the intention I am unsure particularly in the light of the large backlog of cases. From a practical point of view it would seem that the existing CHC teams would have to remain intact and probably in the same offices to avoid additional disruption. BUT with the NHS I would not guarantee that would be the case. At the end of the document are e-mails for each arrea which you might wish to try to see if you can get an answer.

I will keep digging and post anything new I find.