Seriously ill people in Scotland continue to be told that they don’t qualify to have their care home costs paid for by the NHS, reports the BBC.
The report suggests that three stroke victims, who have been left in either vegetative or minimally conscious states, were recently told they are not sufficiently ill to meet the qualifying criteria.
NHS Continuing Health Care is meant to be provided to people who need specialist 24-hour-a-day intensive care from a medical professional. Eligibility is dependent on the complexity, nature or intensity of the patient’s health needs, or the need for frequent not easily predictable clinical interventions that require the supervision of specialist NHS staff.
The Scottish Government launched a review into the provision of NHS Continuing Health Care in June last year, after concerns were raised about the number of people who were actually receiving it.
At the time of the review announcement, the latest figures had revealed a reduction in the number of people receiving continuing care, from 2006 in March 2012 to 1711 in March 2013.
The outcome of this review is expected to be published later this month, says the BBC.
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