REFUND OF CARE HOME FEES - AM EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DELAY

MONMOUTH Assembly Member Nick Ramsay has written to the Welsh Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services, Edwina Hart AM, expressing concern about the delay in processing applications for the refund of care home fees following the December 2009 deadline.

Nick has received a number of complaints from Monmouthshire residents who submitted claims for the refund of care home fees, which they believed had been paid unnecessarily by the deadline imposed of early December last year, following media coverage.

"I understand that all Local Health Boards were inundated with potential claims, and these have still not yet started to be processed as earlier claims are still being handled," he said.

Constituents have been advised that it would be two or three years before their claims were dealt with and that this could be an optimistic forecast.

"Clearly, this is a far from satisfactory situation," said Nick.

He has asked the Minister to let him know what steps are being taken to speed up the process of investigating and finalising the claims which, in many cases, relate to the estates of people who died some time ago.