Daughter’s fight for better care for her terminally-ill mum
A woman has spoken of her distress at what appear to be futile attempts to get the round-theclock care her terminally ill mother desperately needs. Marie Mcminn, 86, from Bath, has motor neurone disease, weighs just five-and-a-half stone and her needs cannot be met by the team which currently cares for her. Her daughter, Karen Pollen, has criticised a Bath health authority over the “wearing process” she is facing in attempts to find her a place at a specialist care home where she can get access to nurses 24-hours-a-day. Ms Pollen claims an application has been rebuffed by Bath and North East Somerset NHS Clinical Commissioning Group because of “exceptional circumstances” which she says have still not been explained to her. Ms Pollen, who describes as her mum as “very ill”, said: “I was flabbergasted. She needs to be put into a home with special provisions. She’s in lots of pain.” Ms Pollen said her mum first started receiving care last Christmas when her 92-year-old father could no longer cope on his own. Although she initially managed with her current care package, the provider of which has not been identified by Ms Pollen, it became clear to Ms Pollen that round-theclock care was needed. Ms Pollen contacted her local healthcare team, which she said agreed she could submit a fast track application. But, Ms Pollen alleges that this proposal was then turned down by a specialist committee - and she has no idea why. “Someone who has a lot of experience with the process helped us fill out the form so we were pretty confident,” she said. “We haven’t really been given a reason. The person who helped us said it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it happen.” Ms Pollen accepts that healthcare budgets are very tight, but says that, as moving her mum was recommended by professionals, it would indicate a need was there. “I think people need to be aware of this,” she said. “My parents are of the generation which thought the healthcare service would be there for them. They would have made adequate provisions if they had thought they needed to.” Ms Pollen says she has already received support from outside parties, including Bath MP Wera Hobhouse and a neurologist - the latter has written a recommendation letter on her behalf. “We’re talking about people at the end of their lives. They desperately need more than they are being provided with. The whole point of fast track is to sort out the problems quickly.” Mrs Hobhouse said: “I was shocked at the situation Karen finds herself in and have written to the clinical commissioning group to ask them to reconsider her mother’s application for continuing healthcare, particularly in light of her recent deterioration. “I have also written to B&NES Council to ask what support they could provide to Karen and her mother given the circumstances.” A spokesperson for NHS B&NES Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Our Continuing Healthcare (CHC) team has made contact with the family directly to explain the process of assessing eligibility for CHC funding and provided more detail with regards to the outcome of their CHC application. When we make decisions about whether someone is eligible for CHC fast track funding we must follow NHS England’s eligibility criteria that have been set nationally. “There is process for individuals to appeal and the family have been notified of this.” Karen added: “She’s a very sick old lady, and it’s a wearing process. We want to give our time to mum, not to sorting out the problems.”