Bowis pledges close watch

Junior health minister John Bowis last week promised that his
department would closely monitor the new eligibility criteria for
continuing care beyond their formal introduction on 1 April.

Bowis was giving evidence to the last session of the Commons
health select committee’s inquiry into long-term care.

He said that officials would monitor the operation of the agreed
eligibility criteria every three months ‘to see whether it is
successful in developing and expanding continuing care and meeting
needs’.

Quizzed on costs he said: ‘In terms of long-term care, they are
manageable as far as most individuals and the taxpayer are
concerned, as long as we look ahead and help people cope both with
current cost and future estimates.’

The inquiry’s report is due in the summer.