Continuing Care champion wins landmark case
Published 4 January 2007
In a landmark victory, Mike Pearce, a former Scotland Yard Detective, has won his 5-year battle with Torbay Care Trust to have nursing home fees he paid for his mother’s care returned to him.
The Alzheimer's Society today welcomed the victory and said it offered hope to thousands of people.
Mike was forced to sell the family home to pay for care for his mother Ruby who had Alzheimer's disease. Ruby was denied NHS fully funded health care despite being incapable of doing anything but chewing food and swallowing.
This week Torbay Care Trust confirmed that they will be paying Mike £50,000 in retrospective care fees. The Alzheimer's Society call the victory 'extremely significant.
Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Society welcomed the victory,
'Mike's victory offers hope for thousands of others battling for fully funded health care. We hope it can serve as an example that others can use in their own battles for continuing care.
Mike's win is important as he was the first person we know of to be assessed using the new continuing care framework which is still being finalised by the Department of Health. His success in arguing that the NHS was liable for a relative's care bill offers hope to thousands of other carers.
If the new criteria achieves its aim of creating a national standard that will end the current postcode lottery, Mike's example can be used by carers across the country to demonstrate why they too are entitled to fully funded healthcare on the NHS.'
Mr Pearce, who is now a volunteer for the Alzheimer's Society, says,
'It was never about the money - it was the principle I was fighting for. I hope this will give many others who are in my position the inspiration to fight for their rights.'
People who think they are eligible for fully funded NHS care or that they have been wrongly assessed, they should write to the chief executive of their Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Director of Social Services.
