02 November 2018
This week we have again witnessed a worrying trend for one of our older clients. Having been granted NHS funding to pay for 24/7 care for the last three and a half years, at a meeting yesterday it was decided that she no longer qualified for the funding.
Our client is in her late 70’s and has Parkinson’s Disease. When funding was put in place, a professional assessor believed the need for NHS Funding was necessary. In the last year, additional hourly care support hours were put in to support our live-in carers so that our client was not left alone whilst our carers took their breaks.
The lady has not improved in health, her levels of anxiety have steadily increased, panic attacks are frequent, her mobility has decreased, for example she needs support to access the toilet and often needs to call for support during the night.
The arrangement is likely to be that hourly care would call in during certain times of the day, this will not be enough. The nights will not be covered, and the result will probably be that a nursing home is the solution offered. Our client wants to remain in her home of many years.
We have witnessed this withdrawal of funding before when the ILF ceased. However, it appears that this almost abrupt withdrawal of NHS Funding to older people may be going to travel a similar pathway?