Majority of continuing care complainants refused compensation

Fewer than one in five people who complained that they were
wrongly charged for continuing care are to be compensated for their
loss, writes Craig Kenny.

Strategic Health Authorities were ordered to review whether they
had applied their eligibility rules correctly after a critical
report by the Health Service Ombudsman two years ago.

In a progress report to the House of Commons last week,
community care minister Stephen Ladyman said that compensation had
been granted in “almost 20 per cent of cases”.

The Department of Health later admitted that he meant 17.9 per
cent of the 10,023 cases that were fully investigated by the end of
July. A further 1,600 cases remain outstanding six months after the
original April deadline.

There is also wide variation between SHAs and Ladyman criticised
some for “unsatisfactory” delays.

Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow said the review process was
“fatally flawed” as it considered only whether SHAs had properly
applied their own eligibility rules, which were themselves
“unfair”.