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Brian’s Story
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‘I got cash back after flawed tests’
Brian Marshall is waiting for a cheque for more than £40,000 after his father was wrongly charged for care home fees.
Brian, 62, from Surrey, says:
“I don’t like to take money out of the health service but I feel strongly that my dad, who has now passed away, was hard done by and didn’t get his entitlement.“My dad left school at 15, joined the Army at 16 and worked hard, paying his taxes, all his life. Then he got dementia.
“We tried to care for him as a family but he was just too ill and we had to put him into a home. He had done the right thing and saved and bought his own home, so we had to pay for it – £700 a week. He was initially assessed in hospital when he wasn’t so ill but he never got re-assessed, despite the fact he quickly deteriorated.
“For the first two weeks in the home, he could get out of bed and eat but after that he never got out of bed again.
It has taken us a couple of years to sort this out but it has now been agreed he should have been reassessed.
What worries me, looking away from Dad, is that other people going forward could be struggling to find the money needed to pay their way when they are entitled to help. We really need a fairer, more transparent system that doesn’t penalise the mass of hard workers who have always paid their way and saved up.
The costs for care are so high and that needs to be looked at. You don’t need any more worry about how to come up with the money at a time when you are trying to cope with the emotion and distress of trying to get the best care possible for loved ones. This needs sorting out and I’m glad Farley Dwek is on my side and helping through the process.”
Jonathan Dwek of Farley Dwek who is representing Mr Marshall, said:
“This is a national disgrace and if the Government is to avoid being accused of a cover up, it has to give the NHS the resources it needs to communicate this policy effectively.
We estimate there are millions of pounds on standby for the relatives of victims but we believe local CCG’s are quietly satisfied at the relatively slow take-up, thanks to a strategy of trying to keep the issue low profile.
Families with a relative who was rejected for funding on financial eligibility alone should definitely challenge the decision immediately and seek advice from Farley Dwek.”