News

The number of elderly people in England getting council-funded care has fallen by 11% in the last two years, figures obtained by Labour suggest. Freedom of Information responses from 121 councils showed they provided free care to 59,056 over 65s in 2011-12, down from 66,342 in 2009-10. The drop comes despite the rise in over-65s […]

Simon Binder’s father ‘would have starved without care’ but he was told didn’t qualify for funding. Telegraph reader has been awarded almost £30,000 after his local primary care trust wrongly assessed his father’s care needs. The case demonstrates the “postcode lottery” many people face when trying to find a fund for long-term care for elderly […]

The bosses of Britain’s four major private healthcare groups are to meet next month to set new standards for looking after NHS patients in an attempt to persuade the Government to use their services more. Dr Peter Calverley, chief executive of Four Seasons Healthcare, is working with Martin Green of English Community Care to come […]

Pensioners should expect to sell their homes to pay for care, a Government commission has been told. The Commission on Funding of Care and Support collated evidence on the system from hundreds of organisations and concluded that free care is unrealistic. Andrew Dilnot, the commission’s chairman, said the only solution which was truly sustainable “is […]

The family of a war veteran suffering from Alzheimer’s has won more than £250,000 from the NHS for nursing home fees he should never have been charged. The payout, which is believed to be the biggest of its kind, was awarded to relatives of Leslie Terry, 86, whose home was sold to pay for his […]