Care service failed Worthing woman

A SON who battled for months to get the care his elderly mother deserved received a letter after her funeral saying she was still not ill enough.

Tim Sumner has now won an appeal confirming his 88-year-old mother Doris did not receive the care she was entitled to before her death in October, 2008.

He believes NHS West Sussex and West Sussex Adult Social Services failed to properly meet his mother’s needs.

“We had to battle through a dys-functional system,” said Tim.

“Agencies weren’t talking to one another, the threshold for intervention was too high, there was misunderstanding of how patients should be treated – it goes on and on.”

Doris, who lived in Carnegie Road, grew increasingly dependent on the health service when crippling arthritis and dementia took hold in 2002.

Tim, who lives in Oxfordshire, said the system that should have helped her die with dignity “completely” failed her.

Tim said: ”Before my mum died, I found out we could apply for something called continuing health care, where a patient is assessed and if there are medical needs to address, then NHS West Sussex must step in and fully fund a care home with trained nurses.”

Tim applied for the package a few months before Doris died, and it was originally granted. But, two days later, NHS West Sussex retracted its decision, saying Doris was not ill enough.

Mrs Sumner was receiving home visits from carers up to five times each day, so when continuing health care was refused, her family paid to move her into a private nursing home themselves.

Tim said: “We kept on applying, fighting for what she deserved. The final blow came once she had died – the day after her funeral, I got a letter saying she was still not ill enough – it reduced me to tears.”

At an appeal at the NHS West Sussex headquarters in The Causeway, Durrington, health bosses agreed Tim’s mother should have been given a continuing health care package.

West Sussex County Council is looking into the issues raised.