MPs Meet With Dementia Charity To Discuss NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding
A group of high-profile MPs including Elliot Colburn (Conservative MP for Carshalton and Wallington and vice-chair of the APPG on Dementia), Mims Davies (Conservative, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work), Edward Argar (Conservative, Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation) and Justin Madders (Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston and Shadow Minister for Business, Employment Rights and Levelling Up) met with specialist dementia nursing charity Dementia UK in Westminster yesterday to discuss its ‘Fix the funding’ campaign, which includes a proposed review of the NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) process to better meet the health and care needs of people living with dementia.
The charity launched the campaign in 2023 to call for fairer care for families affected by dementia who face barriers within the CHC process which is preventing them from accessing vital funds to support their care requirements.
NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) is a package of care that is fully paid for by the NHS and covers costs such as domiciliary and residential care. It is for adults with long-term, complex health needs. However all too often people living with dementia are missing out on vital funding for care because the NHS continuing healthcare assessment process is flawed by not recognising and assessing their cognitive and behavioural needs and thereby failing to capture their overall health needs.
This can lead to increased – and often unmanageable – caring responsibilities for family members, and serious financial worries for those who are left to foot the cost of care themselves.
Others in attendance who pledged their support for Dementia UK’s aim to make care fairer for people living with dementia included Sir Stephen Timms (Labour MP for East Ham), Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham), Gareth Thomas (Conservative MP for Harrow West), Louie French (Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup), Damian Green (Conservative MP for Ashford, Kent) and Robert Buckland (Conservative MP for Swindon South).
MPs in attendance spoke with dementia specialist Admiral Nurses from Dementia UK, including the charity’s Chief Admiral Nurse and CEO Dr Hilda Hayo, as well as people with lived experience of dementia – learning about issues in the current application process and the effect they have on the lives of families and individuals affected by dementia.
Discussing the event, Dr Hilda Hayo said: We are delighted that so many MPs took time out of their busy schedule to join us for this event. NHS continuing healthcare funding can be a lifeline for people with long-term and complex health needs, many of whom are facing soaring care costs. However, people living with dementia face significant challenges when trying to access this funding. We are calling on the government to review NHS continuing healthcare to address flaws in the application process and ensure that this vital funding is accessible to more people living with dementia who may be eligible.
Dementia UK launched its Fix the funding campaign to support people like Rachael, whose grandfather passed away two weeks before his CHC funding was granted after a two year battle. Rachael faced delays and failures while navigating the current system, with the then Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) eventually acknowledging that he should have received the funding from the outset of her application. Rachael said of the process: “I had very little time left with Grandad, and I wasted it arguing with people who were supposed to be helping us.”
