from Robin Lovelock, editor of www.NHSCare.info. on 21st August 2009. Robin@nhscare.info
22 Armitage Court, Sunninghill, Ascot, Berks. SL5 9TA. Tel 01344 620775.

"JUSTICE OVER CARE HOME COSTS" is the headline on the front page of the Daily Mail, last Wednesday 19th August 2009. This highlights the recent victory of three families who won back over £350,000 from the NHS, for patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. So far about £8million has been recovered for a further 750 families - that's an average of over £10,000 per family.

Pam Coughlan will be interviewed on BBC Radio 4's "You and Yours" broadcast next Wednesday 26th August. At the same time, Robin Lovelock will explain "Coughlan", play the three minute Pam Coughlan video, and answer questions. This is at the "Golden Age" event held in the Pavilion at Ascot Racecourse.

Sadly, few people know the simple facts and how to claim or recover what is rightfully theirs. 750 families are a small proportion of the hundreds of thousands of families who have been duped into paying Care Home fees, when the Law demands that the NHS should pay. The Government and Department of Health have spent the last ten years, since Pam's historic victory in the Appeal Court, "ducking and weaving". The Ombudsman, The Royal College of Nursing, and The Law Society have made the facts clear: "Social Care" is part of Health Care, and the Law demands that anyone with care needs the same or greater than Pam Coughlan, must be 100% funded by the NHS - including all costs of the Care Home.

Over ten years ago, in July 1999, Pamela Coughlan won her case in the Appeal Court, against this New Labour Government. The case made the law very clear: anyone with health care needs the same or greater than Pam, is entitled to being fully funded by the NHS. i.e. "Continuing Care". This includes all costs, including those of accommodation, if the patient is in a Hospital, Hospice or Care Home.. It also applies if the patient is being cared for in their own home.

Since then the Government have followed a strategy, conceived by the earlier Thatcher Government, to evade the legal obligation of the NHS to pay for long term care. e.g. the result of stroke, road accident, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or a host of other health conditions. The NHS have closed down long term stay beds, typically occupied by geriatric patients, and used Social Services to approach the family, misinform them, and get them to pay for the Care Home, after means testing. Those that do not have sufficient savings, or a house to sell, become the burden of local Council Tax payers.

In 2002 Robin set up the web site www.NHSCare.info after he received expert legal "Coughlan" advice related to his late mother. Over the years this web site, and the "Coughlan Campaign" group have provided expert advice to hundreds if not thousands of families, and even Law Firms who now offer "no win no fee" services to claim back Care Home costs from the NHS. The group include Steve Squires and David Gooch, two of the "winners" in the first Ombudsman's Report, published in early 2003. The small group includes legal experts and Pam Coughlan herself, together with a network of families, some of whom have already won their case, such as Stephen Johnson. A linked message board provides a Forum and support for claiments throughout the country. The Coughlan Campaign group, and www.NHSCare.info have been the primary source of information whenever there is interest in the subject of "Coughlan" and long term care.

Despite criticism by the Ombudsman, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Law Society, the Government and NHS continue to evade paying for the majority of patients in Care Homes. They employed delaying tactics of consultation on a new "National Framework". These new rules were criticised by the Law Society, since they did not include a simple "Coughlan Test". i.e. comparison of the patient's care needs with those of Ms Coughlan. Instead, these deliberately vague rules were put in place in late 2008, and - of course - result in the majority of patients being denied Continuing Care - to which they are entitled under the Law (the 1946 National Health Service Act).

The recent Green Paper heralds the possibility that a new Government, after the next election, may try to change the law, and permit a distinction between "Social Care" and "Health Care". But for now the Law and "Coughlan" demands free long term care be given to all who need it.