Another CHC Funding Victory
Bleddyn Hancock as featured within the newsletter
http://www.fightthebureaucracy.org/Bulletin ON-LINE.pdf
continues to fight for CHC funding for his members . . .
As featured in South Wales Guardian . . .
£22k payout over free care blunder (By Owen Lock)
END OF A BATTLE: Gwyn Evans accepts a cheque from NACODS secretary Bleddyn Hancock after a long fight to get compensation after paying for nursing care his mother, Ivy, should have had on the NHS.
THE FAMILY of a Llandybie woman who was forced to contribute towards nursing care that should have been free on the NHS has been awarded £21,771 in compensation, leading her son to rally others to follow suit.
Ivy Evans, who suffered from Parkinson's disease as well as a number of other medical problems, was unlawfully made to contribute towards her own care when she was a patient at Tegfan, in Tirydail, Ammanford, and the Awel Tywi Home, Ffairfach.
But a review panel has now ruled that all assistance received by Mrs Evans should have been free of charge as part of continuing care by the NHS.
The victory comes after an 18-month fight between Mrs Evans' son Gwyn's trade union the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS) and Carmarthenshire LHB.
The compensation package also sees a total of £18,517.88 handed over to Carmarthenshire Council, although Bleddyn Hancock, general secretary of NACODS, insists he will not be expecting any thanks.
“I hope this will encourage anybody in similar circumstances to fight for what is rightfully theirs."
Gwyn Evans
He said: "Mrs Evans' family have been compensated but the truth is that they should never have had to pay anything in the first place.
"Before anyone goes into a home, a Continious Care Assessment should be carried out and if nursing care is required, that should be on the NHS and should not be funded or contributed by the patient or her family.
"The NHS are pushing patients onto LA's and they are just accepting it without question."
Mr Evans said: "I hope this will encourage anybody in similar circumstances to fight for what is rightfully theirs.
"When I tell people about it they seem to back away from it, fearing that it is some kind of scam, but what it is really about is fighting for something that should never have been taken away from you in the first place.
"The principal of this is far more important than the money."