denotes premium content | Dec 3 2008 Elderly Client Adviser archive
Volume 8 Issue 4
Features
Continuing NHS health care: Making sense of the confusion
Part one: The legal position
Part two: What to do next
Elderly-client practitioners must be able to decide whether a client should qualify for NHS continuing health care. Failure to do so could not only leave clients paying unnecessarily for care, but also risk a negligence claim against the solicitor acting on their behalf. Caroline Bielanska continues her exploration of the issues with a practical look at what practitioners need to do in challenging and reviewing decisions on NHS-funded care.
Assessing the implications of the new hospital discharge workbook
The government has recently implemented measures to better manage the hospital discharge of older people. Such policy has, however, seemed largely concerned with the problem of bed blocking rather than optimum care practice, and the rights and choices of older people have often been ignored in an effort to speed up the process. Stephen Lowe, a community care (services) policy officer at Age Concern England, assesses how far the publication of the workbook, Discharge from Hospital: Pathway, Process and Practice, might help remedy the problems and establish good-practice guidelines in discharge care.
A guide to living wills
The possibility that patients may become mentally or physically incapable of communicating decisions about their own medical care to their doctors has led to the development of advance directives, also known as living wills. Susan Pape, an associate at Cumberland Ellis Peirs, examines the history of advance directives and the role for solicitors advising their clients in this sensitive area.
Public Guardianship Office update
Much criticism has been levelled against the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) from its choice of premises through to service delivery. Martin Terrell, a partner at Rix & Kay, explores the problems of the past two years and reveals that current improvements might pave the way for a better and brighter future.
Finance Bill 2003: The private-client perspective
The November pre-Budget statement and even the Budget itself may have lulled private-client practitioners into a false sense of security. In fact, the Finance Bill 2003 has now been published, takes two volumes and reveals a plethora of detailed changes, which could affect private clients. Emma Chamberlain, a barrister at 5 Stone Buildings, outlines the key areas of particular interest to practitioners.
Regulars
Case digest
Find out the latest from the law courts...
