from Robin Lovelock: this letter was not made public until Thursday
30th October, the day after IDS lost his vote of confidence and it
became clear that the Conservatives would elect a new leader.
This new leader may select new members for his shadow cabinet
and it is possible that there are subtle changes in policy.
No reply has yet been received from IDS, but I did receive two
letters that were most helpful: one was from the PA to Dr Fox, dated
26th September, explaining that she had passed my letter below to Simon
Burns, the member of the Shadow Health team who has the responsibility
for long term care. The two page letter from Simon Burns MP, dated
14th October, correctly summarized the situation regarding "Coughlan"
and the Ombudsman's Report, although he did say,
"In the majority
of cases, individuals who need long term care do not require such
care primarily on health grounds."
I and others would take issue
with this assumption. It is clear that we need to investigate
this topic further - since it is of crucial importance to both the present
government and any
future government. i.e. the source of the £10 billion of claims.
His letter did seem to make clear that the current Conservative
policy was to encourage people to take out private health insurance
to cover the possible need for long term care. His words were,
"We believe that it should be possible to take advantage of Britain's
high level of home ownership and well developed financial services
industry to encourage more people voluntarily to provide for the chance
that they will need long term care."
We found no mention of the
subject of long term care in the speech by Dr Fox at the Conservative
Part Conference.
I am grateful to Simon Burns
for making the current Conservative policy clear and will revisit this page
if and when we have further information, following election of
a new leader and resulting Shadow Cabinet and policies.
22 Armitage Court, Sunninghill, Ascot, Berks SL5 9TA.
Tel/Fax 01344 620775
Our Ref: IDS1.RTF 25th September 2003
The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, PC, MP,
House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA
Copies: Dr Liam Fox, MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health.
www.nhscare.info.
Dear Mr Duncan Smith,
NHS Continuing Care and Funding
I write to you in my capacity as Editor of the website www.NHSCare.Info
which is devoted to bringing attention to the right of the public
to receive full funding for continuing care where primary needs
are health needs, as articulated in the Coughlan Judgment handed
down by the Court of Appeal in July 1999 and to which the Health
Service Ombudsman refers in her Report "NHS Funding for
Long-term care" presented to Parliament earlier this year.
The contributors to the website, including those whose complaints
were upheld by the Ombudsman, seek cross-party agreement on continuing
care and are particularly interested to know what the policy
of a potential Conservative Government would be. The leader of
the Liberal Democrats has made his views known but regrettably,
the Minister, Dr John Reid, has been less than forthcoming. A
clear statement of Conservative Party policy from yourself would
be most welcome.
I have enclosed a brief overview from the website which I hope
you will visit and encourage others to do so. I look forward to
your response.
Yours Sincerely
Robin Lovelock, editor of www.nhscare.info