Care Review Bureau reveal delays in Continuing Healthcare refunds result in avoidable interest charges.
The Care Review Bureau has recently discovered how NHS local authorities are needlessly spending NHS funds on substantial interest payments that are becoming due on NHS Continuing Healthcare refunds. Families who have successfully pursued the NHS for a refund on wrongly paid care fees are receiving late payments with added interest because of unnecessary clerical delays.
There has been much in the news recently with regard to changes in the NHS Framework for Continuing Healthcare which has resulted in a fairer system with regard to establishing a patient’s Continuing Healthcare needs. Historically, many patients have been unfairly charged for care where they shouldn’t have been and have pursued the NHS for a refund. In many cases, the patient or their families have been successful in claiming back their fees from the NHS, usually after experiencing a lengthy legal process. However even with a successful outcome, it’s not always the end of the story.
Darren Loud, general manager of the Care Review Bureau said ‘we are successfully able to help people get back money that is rightfully theirs. Unfortunately though even when a case is resolved, it doesn’t always mean a refund will be paid within a reasonable timeframe. Some of our clients are experiencing months of delays before they receive their money’.
For the family expecting the refund, receiving an interest payment on top may sweeten the blow of the injustice they have already experienced. For the taxpayer however, when considering the many thousands of outstanding cases currently with the NHS and the repayment delays, it is obvious that interest payments will eventually cost millions.
Joe Rush, claims manager for the Care Review Bureau said ‘we have recently had one case whereby the refund to the client was circa £90,000 plus interest of £40,000. Another of our clients was awarded refund circa £104,000 with additional interest of £26,000. These are by no means isolated cases and present a worrying situation. The repayment delays seem to be across-the-board despite dealing with many different Clinical Commissioning Groups’.
The NHS have advised that they are short staffed but have recently undertaken a recruitment drive to deal with the back-log of Continuing Healthcare claims and repayments. However specialist legal teams working with the Care Review Bureau predict the backlog will take at least 18 months to address and will have a massive negative impact on already stretched NHS budgets.
About The Care Review Bureau:
The Care Review Bureau specialise in assisting with the reclamation of wrongly paid care fees. They offer free and impartial retrospective assessments and dependent on findings offer professional representation on a value based no-win no-fee basis. The Care Review Bureau are currently disputing over £15 million in wrongly paid care fees by individuals and have helped to refund over £1milion worth of care fees for clients since 2010.