Mrs SB entered a care home in Dorset in early 2008 at the age of 94 and remained at this care home until she sadly passed away in May 2012.
Mrs SB had some health needs on admission to the care home, but they were not at a level to meet the eligibility criteria. As time progressed, Mrs SB was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and her cognition significantly deteriorated. In addition, she began to display challenging behaviour and lose weight.
The family instructed Hugh James in 2012 and we requested West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group undertake a retrospective review of Mrs SB’s health needs.
Following an appeal to West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group and finally to a NHS Independent Review Panel, the NHS agreed Mrs SB met the criteria during the last 8 months of her life and care fees paid during this time should be refunded.
Her family recovered over £36,000 in wrongly paid care fees and interest.
Mrs SB’s daughter stated:
Our experience of obtaining reimbursement of wrongly paid care home fees is one of many hard decisions and long term commitment to justify a refund. It required a strong and knowledgeable firm like Hugh James to use all the information we could provide to lead our claim through the many twists and turns that arise.
Hugh James supported us, totally backing every step through the ten year struggle. We quickly realised that it is useless to attempt such a claim without the expert knowledge of the staff at Hugh James. They have surprised us many times with their advice and knowledge of the process and how to progress through each stage of this very difficult claim. We received regular updates of the progress of our claim.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their help, guidance and professionalism shown at all times. When we attended an appeal panel a member of the staff of Hugh James was also present and displayed a vast knowledge of the case and legal procedure.
We would recommend the following to new claimants:
- Keep a copy of ALL bank account statements showing the fees paid to the care home.
- Insist on good daily record keeping by staff in the care home.
- Insist on the care home Accountant to provide statements of all money paid to the care home.
