Peter’s Story

Peter Shaw is a retired teacher from Pickering in North Yorkshire. He had to sell his mother’s home in order to pay for her care home fees. Then, not long after her funeral he discovered that she should have received free funding from the NHS and was entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding all along.

Farley Dwek was able to recover around £44,000 of fees from Powys Local Health Board which were wrongly paid when his mother, Edna, lived in her local nursing home.

Mr Shaw explains:

“In 2006 my mother fell off a stool which resulted in her breaking her hip. At the time she was nearly 87 years old and she stayed in hospital for about two and a half months before we took the decision to transfer her to a nursing home where she lived until she passed away at the age of 88.

When you’re researching nursing homes for your mother there isn’t enough time to consider whether she may be eligible for funding. You simply want the best care and focus on making sure she’ll be happy and comfortable.

From day one we were asked to pay the fees and we paid each bill for the 18 months that she stayed in the home. It was a huge amount of money and obviously we were forced to sell her home in order to fund the costs of her care.

After my mother’s funeral, I read something about NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding and felt I should investigate further. After doing my own research, gathering medical records and looking at my mother’s care plan I appointed Farley Dwek to handle my case.

Farley Dwek were exceptional and explained the process of recovering these care home fees every step of the way. Farley Dwek were able to reassure me that I had a strong case and always kept me in the picture with progress. It was a stress-free experience and the fact the service was provided on a no-win-no-fee basis meant I could proceed with peace of mind and avoid running up expensive legal bills.

Farley Dwek are doing something unique and have been reassuring and informative throughout the process to gain a result. They are recovering what is rightfully yours in a clear, concise and professional way. It is as far removed from other ‘no win- no fee’ legal services as you can get. It’s a specialist area of law and they know their stuff inside out.

More people should claim NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. Getting it right in the first place will save other families the heartache of having to sell property to pay for care home fees. The system is wrong and needs looking at. It relies on naivety and ignorance from families at a time when they are vulnerable and simply want to focus on the best nursing home for their mother or father.

Too many people also want to close the book on a traumatic experience and don’t want to see if they are eligible for reclaiming care home fees. I would urge families who feel they have a case to take legal advice to see how they can recover these fees. My mother died when she was 88 and I’m sure that she’d be pleased to know that her family was eventually able to reclaim what was rightfully theirs in the first place.

If a relative of yours is going into a care home or nursing home, I’d 100% recommend you to call Farley Dwek to see if you are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding.”

Andrew Farley of Farley Dwek, said:

“We’re pleased we got a good result for Mr Shaw and his family and recovered the fees that were wrongly paid all those years ago. It is important that families who currently have relatives in care take action if they feel they too may be entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. We’re proud that we are able to help families like Mr Shaw’s to recover this money which is rightfully theirs. We know that there are thousands of other families out there who are unaware that their mother, father or elderly relative should be receiving this funding. Hopefully, we are doing our bit to shine a light on this little-known area of NHS funding.

Mr Shaw is quite correct, the system is wrong and relies on ignorance and an unwillingness from families to look more closely into the detail of their relative’s care plan and medical history.

Applying for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding is no walk in the park. It’s confusing, emotional and complex. We’re happy that we’re providing a much-needed service for families all over the UK.”