Mrs Barbara Stretch
Barbara Stretch was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and lived at Ashburnham House care home in Morecambe from November 2003 until she died in June 2011.
Due to her Alzheimer’s disease she was unable to manage any of her own care. Barbara could also demonstrate aggressive and unpredictable outbursts of behaviour and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Her daughter, applied for a retrospective review of eligibility for NHS care funding in 2012. Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) was asked to review the case on behalf of Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Unfortunately, it took them until 2016 to deny the funding, which Hugh James appealed.
The appeal was rejected on several occasions. Hugh James then sought an independent review in 2019. The family recovered over £43,000 this year, for fees that should never have been paid. Due to the unreasonable delays by Morecambe Bay CCG, an interest payment of almost £12,000 was included in the figure.
Barbara’s daughter, Mrs Greenwood, said:
Continue. Don’t give in. It hurts when they say no to funding. They said my mother wasn’t ill at the first meeting. I will never forgive them for that.
