§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many authorities have(a) reviewed their eligibility criteria and (b) altered their eligibility criteria following the Health Service Ombudsman report HC399; and what assessment he has made of the number of people who are entitled to receive compensation following local authority reviews of continuing care criteria; [111127]
(2) what estimates his Department has made of the amount owed to individuals following continuing care eligibility criteria reviews. [111048]
§ Jacqui SmithAll Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) have considered whether continuing care criteria in use in their area since 1996 were consistent with the Coughlan Judgment. Since August 2002 they have also been aligning criteria across each SHA, a process which should be complete by this summer.
It is not as yet possible to give an estimate of the number of people entitled to receive compensation or the estimated cost.