Disabled people are being hit with huge care bills because a postcode lottery sees them denied access to vital NHS funding.
The NHS continuing healthcare scheme is administered by local CCGs, whose medics are supposed to use the national framework to ensure patients are treated in the same way wherever they live.
However, research by Which? has found that despite a national framework for assessments, people in England with the highest medical needs can be up to 25 times more likely to get their care costs covered depending on where they live.
South Reading, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area with the lowest level of people funded, paid care costs for 8.78 patients per 50K of the population, while Salford funded 220.38 people per 50K.
The inconsistencies affect people living in the same region. In Stockport (31.76 per 50K), patients are almost seven times less likely to get the funding than those 10 miles away in Salford.
Which says that although CCGs do have different populations, regional variations cannot easily be explained by demographic differences between areas.
It also found that nearly all areas are failing to meet national framework guidance stating that in most cases people should not wait more than 28 days for a decision about whether they are eligible for funding.
Sue Bott Disability Rights UK’s Deputy CEO said:
“This disturbing report shows just how ridiculous the current funding system for health and social care is. It cannot be right that someone in Stockport has to pay thousands for care whereas someone in the same circumstances 10 miles down the road in Salford doesn’t have to pay anything.
There is an assumption amongst the general public that care will be free, sadly it is only when people encounter the ‘system’ for the first time that they realise just how much they have to pay. At DRUK we think health and social care costs should be covered by general taxation. This is the only fair way."
The care funding gamble: Which? reveals lives blighted by postcode lottery is available @ https://press.which.co.uk