6 year wait then panel in 10 days
My mum died in September 2010. Shortly after she died we initiated a claim for retrospective CHC for the period from November 2004 until her death.
We have waited until now for any meaningful response. We received a letter dated 16th August. This stated that the period from November 2004 (when she first went into a home), until June 2009 was not being looked at as it 'was a previously assessed period'.
The period from June 2009 to September 2010 is being considered and is going to panel soon.
We have been given until 26th August to send any comments in, if we want them to be considered by the panel.
I phoned them and asked for an extension to this deadline and was told it wasn't possible. I pointed out that we had waited 6 years and were now expected to respond within 10 days, which is blatantly unfair, but to no avail.
Luckily we applied for relevant documentation from the hospital, GP, care homes etc when we first initiated a claim, otherwise we would have had a hopeless task.
I am going to the library today to print off the Decision Support Tool, in order to work through it and provide supplementary evidence to the panel.
Has anyone else had to work to such a short deadline and/or can anyone offer any advice around this?
We may well decide to appeal against the earlier years, but addressing the period the panel will be looking at is the priority at the moment.
I live in Merseyside - if I'm allowed to say that - so it would also be good to hear from anyone with any experience locally.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Brenda