On 5 March, the BBC Panorama featured a programme revealing the scandal of thousands of families across England and Wales who have been forced to sell their family home to pay for the long-term medical care, in a nursing home, of a sick relative - care that should, legally, have been paid for by the NHS.

The BGS noted with interest the content of the recent BBC Panorama programme on funding of NHS continuing care.Although the complexities of funding continuing care are a matter for Parliament, the Society is concerned by any apparent inequity that arises from uneven application of locally derived NHS Continuing care criteria. The Society welcomes the proposal for a National Framework to address this issue, which is made more complex by the division of Care Packages into Health and Social care, and Personal and Nursing care.Individual assessments for NHS Continuing Care should take into account factors such as current and anticipated levels of disability, likely disease progression and limited life expectancy to ensure fair and just provision of care.