Alice’s story

When Alice Newton (88) entered a care home five years ago she was told that she would not be eligible for any kind of funding. Five years and £158,000 in care home fees later, her family have finally secured NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding after getting Farley Dwek involved.

The family will now save around £2,700 per month in nursing home fees.

David Newton, 65, is a site supervisor at a local school and lives in Bamber Bridge in Lancashire – less than two miles from where his mother now resides in a nursing home. He takes up the story:

“After my father died my mother’s health slowly began to decline until she was diagnosed with dementia and over time developed various other conditions including incontinence and mobility issues.

As a family we decided that the best thing to do would be to bring her to live near me and my wife in Lancashire so we could support her better. After a period in a rest home she then entered a nursing home.

We noticed that other people in the home were getting financial support but they appeared to be in much better state of health than my mother. We were told that they may have different circumstances and we shouldn’t get concerned about that.

It seemed a little unfair to us at the time but because we were in a position to pay the fees after we sold my mother’s home in Hertfordshire we felt we had to do so.

Whenever we approached the subject of NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding we felt like we were getting fobbed off by system. We kept being told that because my mother didn’t fall into a certain category of health requirements and had assets in the form of the funding from the house sale we would have to pay. We were simply told ‘that’s the law’.

We now know that this is not the case and that NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding is based on health needs and not how much money you’ve got in the bank.

After reading an article in the Daily Mirror we got in touch with Farley Dwek and they agreed to look at our case. After they reviewed our position they said we have a strong case for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. Then they supported us in the crucial assessment meeting with the NHS by sending one of their experienced nurses who was able to make sure the assessment criteria was applied fairly and properly. Without Farley Dwek’s support we wouldn’t have secured the funding.

Soon after we presented our case with Farley Dwek we were informed by the NHS that my mother was entitled to the funding after all. It was a huge relief because the size of the care home fees can be a huge worry.

There must be many other families out there in the same position as us. I’d urge people to seek legal advice from a specialist law firm to see if they too can secure the funding they are entitled to. We’re happy with the outcome knowing that the right decision was made but we’re unhappy about the long drawn out process to get proper information on how and when we would be entitled to it.”

Andrew Farley, of Farley Dwek, who acted for the Newton family, said:

“We’re pleased that we made sure the NHS came to right decision to grant Mrs Newton the funding she is fully entitled to. The fact that she was rejected so many times is a worrying indictment of the current system and we will be looking into this aspect a little further.

In this particular case a very hard-working family that has paid taxes all their lives in Britain has had to sell of an inheritance asset in the form of a family home and pay more than £158,000 for care home fees. People should not feel coy about challenging the NHS over fees they have already paid or fees they are already paying.

This isn’t money being claimed from the NHS – this is money that has already been mistakenly paid over by families and ending up in the hands of private care operators. It is essential that families are assertive in claiming and reclaiming what is rightfully theirs in the first place.”