What the Professionals say
The opinion of several expert groups as to the current situation regarding funded and self-funded healthcare.
Parkinson's UK
We believe it is unacceptable that many people have to fight for the NHS to fulfill its obligations to provide free continuing care.
We believe that fair and consistent access to NHS continuing healthcare for people with Parkinson's must be treated as a priority by all local and national policymakers. This means raising public awareness of rights to NHS continuing healthcare, making sure the assessment takes full account of the symptoms of Parkinson's and enabling people to choose where they receive their care - be it in residential care or at home.
It also means dealing with the bureaucracy and delays that people often experience when applying for continuing care.
Why we believe this
The complex health needs that people with advanced Parkinson´s have meant that some people are likely to meet NHS continuing healthcare criteria. However there are a number of barriers that exist in accessing NHS continuing healthcare. These include:
- Lack of public awareness
- A variation in what people experience in terms of assessment and eligibility
- A lack of understanding among assessors of the way Parkinson's can fluctuate
- Bureaucracy and cost shunting between health and social care
- Restricted choice as to where to receive the continuing care package (for example at home)
What's the evidence?
Unfortunately there is little data on the number of people with Parkinson's who are in receipt of NHS continuing healthcare.
It's still the case that people with Parkinson's and their families continue to report barriers to accessing NHS continuing healthcare, despite the introduction of national guidance in England, Scotland and Wales.
Carehome selection – Dementia
Will someone who has dementia qualify for continuing healthcare funding?
This is a question many thousands of families are asking. Continuing healthcare funding is free and provided by the NHS, but confusingly, some people with dementia are granted this funding for their care fees and others are not. Let’s start with how continuing healthcare itself is explained and defined by the Department of Health: “Care provided over an extended period of time, to a person aged 18 or over to meet physical or mental health needs that have arisen as a result of disability, accident or illness.”
The controversy and confusion arises in this area around the definition of “health needs”. While “health needs” are funded through the NHS, if needs are assessed as being primarily “social needs”, they will not receive NHS funding. When someone has dementia, their needs may be described as primarily social, rather than health and they would therefore not qualify for continuing healthcare funding. Unfortunately, there is widespread variation in terms of whether people with dementia qualify for this funding and charities like the Alzheimer’s Society believe many people unfairly miss out on funding.
