Deadline announced for Welsh continuing care reviews

The Welsh Assembly Government is to impose a deadline after which it recommends that continuing care cases pre-dating April 2003 are no longer reviewed for retrospective funding. The deadline has been set for 4 December 2009. The Assembly has pledged to widely publicise the deadline so that all patients and their families who might be affected are made aware of the cut-off date for funding reviews. Although the deadline does not represent statutory law, it will be much more difficult for patients and families to obtain a review after the date has passed. Therefore, anyone who feels they have wrongly paid for care home fees in Wales before April 2003 should contact Cheselden straightaway so that their case can be reviewed as soon as possible. A spokesperson for the Assembly comments: ‘The WAG now intends to wind up these (review) arrangements. Individuals who believe that they may have been entitled to continuing NHS healthcare during this period have until 4 December 2009 to submit a claim. Claims relating to later periods are not affected by this cut off.’