I fought for my mum’s health costs to be met – I hope my fight helps others

sion. During an 11-week stay at HRI, doctors diagnosed her with vascular dementia.

Her health rapidly deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t speak, feed herself or move out out bed. She was doubly incontinent, had pneumonia and had suffered several strokes.

HRI medics decided she should be moved to a care home in Calderdale. But within three hours of arriving she had a fall and was deemed too ill to be there and returned to hospital.

“It was following this incident that I was approached by a social worker asking me about my mother’s financial situation,” said Mr Mulcahy, who hails from Hebden Bridge.

“The first question was, ‘Does your mother own a property?’ and ‘Does she have any savings?’.

“When I asked what these questions were about they promptly told me that my mother would have to pay for her Continuing Healthcare, the cost of which was between £700 and £1,000 per week.

“Since then I have been asked the same harassing questions numerous times by social workers, and indeed, some care home managers.”

Mr Mulcahy then claims that a so called “pen portrait” assessment by social workers was filled out incorrectly to deliberately downplay the severity of her condition.

“It stated my mother did not need assistance with feeding and was not having to be administered oxygen,” he said.

“Both these were wrong. “I realised this was to ensure she would not be eligible for Continuing Healthcare funding.

“They were simply trying to block the process in order that my mother would be liable to pay for her own care.”

After appealing to hospital chief executive Owen Williams, Mr Mulcahy had another assessment done and it determined his mother was eligible for funding.

But he was dealt another blow when Calderdale Commissioning Group only approved two weeks’ worth.

With his mother’s health deteriorating, Mr Mulcahy then applied for her to be fast-tracked for funding as he was sure she met the criteria.

Again, doctors and social workers disagreed.

On February 1, Mr Mulcahy was invited to a crunch meeting with all the doctors, nurses, discharge coordinators and health professionals involved, where he was again told his mother did not meet the criteria.

During the meeting, a doctor and a senior nurse both insisted that his mother was not consid-