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Case ref:201405012
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Date:December 2015
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Body:Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:continuing care
Summary
Mr C said that the board failed to follow Scottish Government procedures on NHS continuing healthcare which resulted in his father (Mr A) not being assessed for continuing healthcare when he should have been. Mr C said that if an assessment had been carried out, Mr A would have had care provided by the NHS and would not have had to pay around £45,000 for residential care in a private nursing home.
We took independent advice from one of our medical advisers, who specialises in care of the elderly. We found that Mr A did not meet the criteria for continuing care. Having said that, the process was not as clear as it should have been to Mr C. The board accepted that the decision about whether or not to provide NHS continuing care should be fully explained to the family at the time of an assessment. The board took this issue forward with healthcare staff. Given that the guidance has been superseded and the process changed since June 2015, and that the communication issue had been taken forward by the board, we made no recommendations.