April 2006 | Click to go back

Solicitors offer specialist advice to the elderly

Partner Susan Comrie and Legal Assistant Patricia Venables

A firm of Walsall Solicitors is urging the region’s elderly residents and their carers to exercise caution when considering a move into the full-time care environment.

Enoch Evans, who house Walsall’s only two registered solicitors for the elderly, are advising that many people could be entitled to the full cost of their care being met by the NHS.

They are stating that if care needs are primarily health focused then the NHS should pay for it. The specialist in-house team comprising Patricia Venables and Susan Comrie has made some major breakthroughs for their clients to ensure that they receive the full entitlement for their care.

Susan said: “This is the same care that would have been provided in hospitals around 20 years ago, but today it is more likely to be provided in a nursing home. The NHS publishes 'eligibility criteria' setting out who is and who is not eligible for free care. Many people should qualify but are being told that they are not eligible as their care needs are social and therefore a service they must pay for.”

Patricia, who is a committee member of the Birmingham branch of Solicitors for the Elderly, a national association of specialist lawyers advising older people added: "I have dealt with several cases where the law is being wrongly applied and I have been involved in the process of reviews and appeals for those clients. The final procedure is to appeal to the NHS Ombudsman or through the court - but this can take years, and, in the meantime, the elderly person being cared for often has sold their house to fund their own care. Sometimes they have even passed away."

One case saw the team from Enoch Evans looking after the financial affairs of a 94-year-old Walsall lady, who was on the highest level of benefit for nursing care contributions but was meeting the rest of the cost personally; her family were concerned that she hadn't been correctly assessed.

The firm wrote to the Primary Care Trust stating the concerns of their client and asked for a review, despite the fact that the nursing home was satisfied that she had been correctly assessed two years previously. They managed to get a paper hearing without a judicial review and the Trust admitted that they hadn't applied the correct criteria and that she was in fact eligible. This meant that she was refunded the money backdated two years to the date of the initial assessment, which amounted to over £18,000.

To confirm this unlawful behaviour BBC’s Panorama documentary 'The NHS National Home Swindle' recently exposed the injustice of the current system. They focused on a landmark case in 1999 at the Court of Appeal judgement which involved Pamela Coughlan, a tetraplegic lady, who challenged her local health authority in Exeter and won.

Patricia Venables concluded: "The managers of nursing homes don't necessarily understand what the assessment criteria are, so we would strongly recommend that families seek professional legal advice before entering into an agreement with them. Care fees can cost up to £1,500 per week and it is vital that residents, their families and carers realise that the potential for financial loss can be significant if they choose not to take specialist advice."

If you would like advice from Enoch Evans you can contact them on 01922 720333.

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