This woman is still fighting for care for her severely ill elderly mum, but has been told her mums behaviour isnt unpredictable and so she isnt eligable. Let me just show you her nightie. Just how much more evidence do you need of her instability. Shes ripped that nightie . Shes ripped that nightie. Its all documented yet they came back and said her behaviour was not unpredictable. It could be anticipated. Are you affected in this way . Email us, victoria bbc. Co. Uk. And if you want to come on the programme today, do include your phone number. There are now ten candidates left in the race to be Prime Minister after the only remain contender dropped out. One would be pm Andrea Leadsom is on her feet right now launching her campaign shell be on our Programme Live tomorrow at 10 and another hopeful, a conservative mp called mark harper, who calls himself the serious underdog, is kicking off his bid in half an hour. Well bring you a bit of that live. Accessing speech and langauge therapy is a Postcode Lottery, according to a new report. One in five children now start School Without the speaking skills they should have. One nursery teacher tells us why she thinks this is happening. There are children where its just a case that faith had jammies for a bit too long, they are not communicated with, they have not interacted with children as much as they possibly could they have had fa res they possibly could they have had fares for too long. And perhaps they have been in front of a screen more than communicating with other adults or other children. Hello. Welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. Thanks for your many messages this morning about your battles to get whats called continuing Health Care Funding. Well bring you our exlcusive film in a moment. Let me read some messages, and there are many. Angela on twitter when we were trying to get continuing care for my father, i was told by a ccg nurse that anyone could care for him, he didnt have needs that were complex enough to require the nhs he had alzheimers and couldnt do anything at all for himself. Lisa on twitter chc is a complex and bureaucratic system. Thousands denied due to subjective and restrictive application. The appeal process is lengthy a recent case took three years to successfully appeal, but the patient died in the process. With determination you can win. Weve recovered £125 million plus forfamilies. That comes from lisa, who is a lawyer. Message from gill very stressful experience applied for chc for my father in last weeks of his life. Invoices lost, nightmare trying to get assessment, shocking conversations. We were passed from pillar to post and told it would take several weeks. Not helpful when my father had only a few weeks left. Our invoices from the care home were lost by the local county council i ended up delivering them in person. It was a very upsetting and stressful experience. I suspect many more of you might be in scenarios like those. To get in touch, it feels like it has been a neglected issue for a long time, but not anymore. E mail us, neglected issue for a long time, but notanymore. E mail us, and if neglected issue for a long time, but not anymore. E mail us, and if you wa nt to not anymore. E mail us, and if you want to talk about your own experiences, successful or otherwise, let us know by impeding your phone number. We will bring you oui your phone number. We will bring you ourfilm ina your phone number. We will bring you ourfilm in a few your phone number. We will bring you our film in a few minutes. First Annita Mcveigh has the news. Thousands of vulnerable patients are missing out on nhs funding for home care that they are legally entitled to, this programme has been told. Some families say they have spent nearly all their life savings to pay for care after being turned down for continuing care funding. When 83 year old joyce bryant became ill two years ago with viral encephalitis, it was a Tipping Point. The illness left her with a substantial brain injury and unable to care for herself. She was banging on windows, she was hitting out at my dad, pulling plugs out of the sockets in the hospital wards and staff were having to take it off of her. She put herself on the floor and was hitting the mattress. It was just totally un normal behaviour. And theres more on this story in the programme in the next few minutes. Mark harper and rory stewart willjoin Andrea Leadsom in launching their Party Leadership campaigns to replace theresa may and become the countrys next Prime Minister today. The initial group of ten candidates will be whittled down to two by a series of mp votes over the next few weeks. The final pair will then face a ballot of the wider party membership. The government is being urged to clarify whether the chinese firm huawei will be allowed to provide equipment for the uks 56 mobile network. The countrys largest phone Companies Including bt, vodafone, and 02 have drafted a letter to the head of the civil service, saying the uncertainty about the communication companys role is putting developments at risk. Unemployment fell by 3a,000 to 1. 3 million in the three months to april. Figures from the office for National Statistics show that wages grew faster than expected in the period, as the jobless rate held at its lowest rate since 1975. Mps have condemned the cover up culture among employers using gagging clauses to silence workers complaining about Unlawful Discrimination and harassment. Maria miller, chair of the women and equalities committee, has told the bbc non disclosure agreements are having a destructive effect on peoples lives and should be banned. They were originally designed to stop staff sharing trade secrets if they changed jobs. Nurseries in englands poorest areas are facing closure because of a shortfall in government funding, a charity has said. A report by the Early Years Alliance found i7 of childcare providers surveyed in the most deprived areas of the country anticipate closure in the next 12 months. Some nurseries said they had lowered the quality of food given to children. The department for education said it spent £3. 5 billion a year on early education. Back to you, victoria. Thousands of people in england are using their life savings to pay for their long term care, which should be funded by nhs Clinical Commissioning Groups. Perhaps you are one of these people, somebody in your family might be. One expert has told this programme its a National Scandal. Many people have been forced to sell their homes to pay for the care. Nhs continuing healthcare funding is for patients with a Significant Health problem they should have such care cost paid in full if the condition is deemed to be the main reason they require such help. Figures obtained by this Programme Show the parliamentary and Health Service ombudsman investigated 496 complaints about chc funding last year. Campaigners claim its a deliberate strategy by Health Officials to cut spending on the care even though it is a legal right for tens of thousands of vulnerable people. Noel phillips reports. When 83 year old joyce bryant fell ill two years ago with viral encephalitis, it left her with a substantial brain injury and unable to care for herself. It became the Tipping Point for her health. She is now bedridden and weighs around seven stone. Her behaviour was just. Wasjust manic. She was banging on windows. She was hitting out at my dad. Pulling plugs out of the sockets in the hospital ward and staff were having to take it off of her. She put herself on the floor and was hitting the mattress. It was just totally abnormal behaviour. And thats when we started with the chc process. So what is chc, or continuing health care . Clinical commissioning groups have a legal duty to offer personal Health Budgets to those who are eligible. Its a government scheme where the nhs is responsible forfunding the nursing cost of people with complex medical conditions. Those who apply are judged according to National Criteria guidelines, one of which is on Predictable Health care needs. Every year around 160,000 applications are made costing the nhs around £3 billion. Nurses from Clinical Commissioning Groups assess patients likejoyce, but she was turned down for continuing Health Care Funding by west hampshire ccg last year. She destroyed her glasses. Let me just show you her nightie. Just how much more evidence do you need of her instability. Shes ripped that nightie . Shes ripped that nightie. Its all documented, yet they came back and said her behaviour was not unpredictable. It could be anticipated. But lynn says despite providing clinical documents and videos showing her mums aggressive behaviour. This was my special date as well as yours, yours, yours. Gently, mum, gently. Her local Clinical Commissioning Group found that her needs did not meet their criteria for fully funded nhs care. You had your tea yet, mum . No. To come back and say that her behaviour was not unpredictable, i dont know. I cant understand there, i cant understand this, their rationale to the situation. But its. Unfortunately its whats happening. The bottom line is its happening and it shouldnt be happening. Joyces health is deteriorating. Her gp has now placed her on an end of life Palliative Care register. Her husband pete, who is in the early stages of dementia, has had to spend most of their savings on her 24 7 care needs, which he says should be provided by the nhs. Shes. Shes just like a cabbage now. You can call it that. We always. We were always together, werent we . Always together, always going out together. But now. No chance of it at all. How are you feeling today, joyce . Still a bit tired. Nice to get out and have a chat and have a smile off somebody else. The family say their savings to continue caring for joyce are running out. Theyre eligible for care home funding but they say that is not an option. I need some help. Yep. All right, dad, its all right. Mum and dad always wanted to stay in their own home. Havent you . Always wanted to stay in your own home together. Theyve been married 57 years. If i genuinely thought that a care home was the right place then i wouldnt think twice. But theyve never wanted to go into a care home. To be honest it would be disastrous for mum because she wouldnt get the care that shes getting home here when shes shes having the days where she wont eat, she wont drink. And if ijust mention to dad about a home he just says, i will kill myself if i go into a home. Forjoyce to remain in her own home, she will need continuing Health Care Funding. We contacted the familys Clinical Commissioning Group, west hampshire, who told us. We are very sorry that mrs bryant and her family are experiencing such a difficult time. Decisions on mrs bryants case were taken by a panel of health and social care professionals and with input from her gp. Figures weve seen from the parliamentary and Health Service ombudsman, who oversee complaints into continuing health care, show nearly 200 cases were investigated in the last year. Which is why some campaigners have accused local Clinical Commissioning Groups of deliberately withHolding Funding in order to avoid making payments. There are thousands of people who have been forced to sell their houses to pay for the care in circumstances when they perhaps ought not to have to do so. The problem is that a lot of people dont know of the existence of this funding and even those who do know about it have difficulty in navigating the complexities of the system. It is a National Scandal that people are not being signposted to this funding. Here in wiltshire, the percentage of people like this family getting access to continuing Health Care Funding is amongst the lowest in the country, leaving many with Significant Health care needs being denied free care. This is the dark side of the nhs. This is a hidden side. This is the disabled side, the dementia side, the alzheimers side. John morrison has cerebral palsy, which means he cant use his arms or legs. His funding was withdrawn in 2009 because he no longer met the criteria for continuing Health Care Despite his condition remaining the same. Fighting forjohn has nearly broken me. Watching somebody disappear, when you know that for a simple amount of money, it can be stopped. Its depressing. Its demoralising. It encompasses every conversation i have with my lovely husband, who sometimes just turns off because hes heard what ive said so many times. Youd like to give up sometimes, but i cant. And i wont. I wont give up. Its not what we do. A decade later and their battle for continuing Health Care Funding has paid off. In the last week, wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group has concluded thatjohn now qualifies for fully funded care. His parents say they now intend to claim £300,000 back from the nhs, having spent their own money on his care. I am relieved, i am relieved because now the three of us can have a normal life again, a family life. Very happy. For some, though, it hasnt been a happy ending. A recent report by the Public Accounts Committee found that some people have died while awaiting a decision on their continuing health care applications. Nhs clinical commissioners, the body which represents ccgs, has told us Health Officials must operate within the confines of the law and that theyre working hard to improve the process to make it fairer for those that need it. There are some people who are suggesting that the nhs is unlawfully Holding Funding back to those who are lawfully entitled to it. Well, youre absolutely right that it is a requirement that this is being provided to people who meet the criteria. And when you know that some assessments in some areas are taking over 100 days, thats three months that someones waiting, living through something without the support they need, thats just not acceptable. And these differences in waiting time couldnt be explained. So theres a lot wrong with the system. And there needs to be real political will behind this to make sure that those who are eligible are getting the money they need because its often a short window for people that they need the money and if they dont get it quickly, they may never get it at all. Philip matthias, a retired rear admiral, says his mum was desperate for Health Care Funding. But by the time it was approved by the local Clinical Commissioning Group, it was too late. He successfully claimed £200,000 back from the nhs for the care his family had already paid for. Well, when i eventually won the case on behalf of my father, sadly my mother died just at the end of that process. The independent review panel, eventually i recovered a total of £200,000. At a national level, in my view this is probably the biggest financial scandal in the history of the nhs, financially talking. And over the last five to ten years, there will be thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of people who will have been denied this funding. We asked nhs england for an interview to discuss the problems people are having with continuing health care, but instead they sent us a statement. Youre dealing with a very challenging situation involving your mum, and youre also having to deal with a system that is incredibly difficult and very complex to understand. How are you able to get through all of this . It shouldnt be like that. Mum and dad are of the generation where, if they couldnt afford it, they didnt have it. They saved hard to better themselves. For their retirement. And theyve stood on their own two feet all their lives and now they need that help and its just not there. Its just. Its just devastating. We did invite a government minister and an nhs england spokesperson on the programme to discuss the issues with continuing health care but no one was available. With me is dr Paul Williams hes a labour mp and a gp and a member of the house of Commons Health and social care select committee. And baroness ros altmann is a conservative former pensions minister and a social care campaigner. Covers she is also a conservative pf. All billions, do you agree with some of our contributors that this isa some of our contributors that this is a National Scandal . I do, i have watched that film and, as a doctor, it makes me feel really upset that there are people who clearly need there are people who clearly need the support of the nhs and are not getting it. We know the reason these costs are going up is because they need is there, clearly the nhs should be there to meet our needs. We know that nhs england have asked the ccgs to make 855 men in pounds worth of savings by 2020 is slashed 21 in this area, but i fear that the only way they will be able to do thatis only way they will be able to do that is by raising the bar for eligibility even higher. Which is interesting because they say they have not changed the criteria. |j have not changed the criteria. |j have worked inside a ccg, i had seen this happening, and really good people are struggling to balance the books and there is a certain amount of subjectivity about the criteria. In some areas three quarters of all people who apply get refused, but in other areas only 5 get refused, there is massive variation. Baroness altmann, what do you think of what is going on . It is a monument failure of government policy, it is a real crisis. Successive governments have failed to tackle the social care issue. This is not just the nhs, this is the care syste m just the nhs, this is the care system and the artificial distinction between what the uk or england particularly considers health care versus what they class as social care. If you have health ca re as social care. If you have health care needs, all your costs can be paid by the taxpayer, but if you are oii paid by the taxpayer, but if you are on the borderline where somebody thinks maybe it is social care, not health care, and to the individual affected and their families, there was not a difference whether you are suffering from cancer or dementia, you need care, but the current syste m you need care, but the Current System will deny you any funding, will make you use almost all your life savings in order to meet your costs if you have dementia and you dont get continuing health care from the nhs. And i think your film is so moving and so important because we have a care system that is not integrated with the health syste m is not integrated with the Health System and is not actually fit for the last century, never mind this. |j wa nt the last century, never mind this. wa nt to the last century, never mind this. want to read messages from viewers. I dont know if you would have felt this would be the case, but there are many, many of these, many families are experiencing this right 110w. Families are experiencing this right now. Derek says my wife had a severe stroke six weeks ago after an operation for bowel cancer in late 2017. She is paralysed down one side. She cant eat, she is fed through a tube, she cant speak and she only gets out of bed for a bath using a hoist. They say her health ca re using a hoist. They say her health care is predictable so we have too funded. We had spent over £70,000. We are appealing against this decision but not helpful. Carol says i am going through this, my elderly mum is in hospital, i cant get help despite her appearing to be eligible forfunding. We have been told to sell her home for the money and until it goes on. Diana says it took four years to get a retrospective chc, continuing health ca re retrospective chc, continuing health care payment, for three months when my stepfather declined rapidly having been in a care home for two yea rs having been in a care home for two years with dementia. The ccg, Clinical Commissioning Group, dragged theirfeet are Clinical Commissioning Group, dragged their feet are never contacted me. It was completely driven by me. It is disgraceful, says diana. There are many mole which i will try to read. Doctor Paul Williams, i have been told by one ex nurse assessor, somebody who sits with a patient at the medical professional and goes through the Decision Making tool to work out if a patient is eligible or not and they have to present that to the Funding Panel, the Funding Panel can ignore whatever the nurse assessor has recommended and say, sorry, we dont agree, this patient is not eligible, and this ex nurse assessor says it is like there is indirect pressure, almost intimidation, to turn people down. Why would that be . Funding is driving the activity, the bottom line is that cost is going up, as people like carroll, derek and diana have described, there is the great need out there, people feel they had to battle against the system and there is not enough money. We have seen a social care system with 7 billion p less spent on it while the tories have been in government, i am afraid this is Party Political. It is a Party Political issue, and success of labour and tory governments have done nothing . £7 billion less is being spent now than in 2010 and the need has increased. In other 2070 ma nifesto, need has increased. In other 2070 manifesto, labour said we would put an extra £8 billion into social care in this parliament and said we would integrate the health and care service because, as people describe, they do not care whether they need is technically helpful care. We have come up with some really Good Solutions and i wish the politicians we re solutions and i wish the politicians were talking about this rather than battling over brexit and making outlandish promises about tax cuts. It needs more investment. The fact is there is no funding. Wherever you look there is no funding for social care, meaning councils are cutting back on care, which is having a knock on effect on the nhs, with the ccgs basically saying we need to find a way of controlling costs, so they tried to refuse funding, it seems, and the statement from the government was interesting because it said the ccg is how to manage demand in their area. If you are in an area with a very rapidly ageing population and lots of people with needs, you will find yourself in a position where you have sudden huge demands and you have to manage it somehow, and it ends up seemingly, certainly have it feels to the families, that the ccg is rationing and you have tojump through more and more hoops to get the funding. Meanwhile somebody has to pay to look after your loved one all for your own care and people are selling homes that they dont need to sell because they turn out in the end to have been eligible, but having 44 era two they lose. I always think if i ask people for the experiences the least i should do is read them out, so i will be more messages. Pavlovic says i worked as a chc nurse and left after three months because thejob worked as a chc nurse and left after three months because the job was removing money and services from patients. Ethically, icould removing money and services from patients. Ethically, i could not do it. I was on fast track too, for terminally ill patients. Stupid says it happened with my mum, as she deteriorated from needing care at home through to care in a nursing home through to care in a nursing home and finally to death we had to sell her home to pay care fees and faced hostile environments from the dwp, the council on benefits, it was horrendous. Dementia care is almost impossible to fancy somebody else, my mum saved almost £30,000, all of which is being used to fund her care as she is no longer safe in her own home. It has been over six months of paperwork already. Thank you both. When we get the chance to talk to leadership candidates, would be Prime Ministers, we will put this to them. Thank you, doctor Paul Williams, labour mp and member of the house of Commons Health and social care select committee, and conservative peer baroness altmann, thank you for your time. He blames successive governments for the crisis we are now in. Coming up, we will talk to some of you about your own battles, and we will also bring you one particular story. Vicky keiller was 92 when she died last year. She suffered from dementia and other conditions, but was turned down for nhs Health Care Funding on three occasions despite being eligible. And children in england face a Postcode Lottery when it comes to getting speech and Language Therapy, a new report claims. We will bring you the story. Any moment now its the turn of a conservative mp called mark harper to launch his attempt to be the next leader of the conservative party and your next pm. His launch is called ask me anything. And hopefully, the media will. Another candidate, Andrea Leadsom, has been speaking this morning at her campaign event. When i was four, my parents divorced and my mother raised me and my sister on her own for the next four yea rs sister on her own for the next four years and it was really hard because there was no help available for a single parent then, a very long time ago. But it taught me life lessons, first, the importance of loving family and Strong Community and second, the vital need for the state to provide support when its needed. It just wasnt there in those to provide support when its needed. Itjust wasnt there in those days and im determined to make sure that it is there in future. My mother and step dad married when i was eight and opened a furniture shop in the 19705. And opened a furniture shop in the 1970s. Lesson number three has stayed with me forever. That Labour Party Governments always destroy incentives to work hard and prosper. They had to work pretty much six days and several evenings each week to make ends meet so low taxes, incentives for enterprise and strong employment opportunities, i know that these are what build a successful economy. I went on to a girls grammar school. My fourth lesson was that expectations and opportunities are crucial to success. My head teacher expected great things of us as young women, not for her, the idea of voice careers and girls careers. So my ambition expressed as aged 13, to become an mp in order to save the world from a nuclear war was encouraged by the school and i was asked, and it worked andi encouraged by the school and i was asked, and it worked and i was asked, and it worked and i was asked to set up and injure schools debate on our nuclear deterrent, its value in keeping the peace and the vital importance of international diplomacy. Our place as a force for goodin diplomacy. Our place as a force for good in the world upholding human rights and fighting the challenge of the climate emergency, these are my Top Priorities for us on the world stage. Now, Andrea Leadsom is on our Programme Live tomorrow at 10am so if you have a question, send it in on e mail or you can message us on twitter. Use the hashtag. We expect mark harper to launch his bid in a moment or two. There is the room. It was due to start at 10 30am, any moment now, mr harper, a former government chief whip, in charge of party discipline, and a former immigration minister, he resigned as immigration minister, he resigned as immigration minister, he resigned as immigration minister in 2014 after employing an illegal immigrant as his cleaner. His campaign is cold ask me anything. So i think there will be a few minutes of chat and then hopefully the media will come ask him anything. In the meantime, let me read some e mails to you regarding continuing Health Care Funding. One expert telling us its a National Scandal, we heard a conservative peer agreeing with that description. Families up and down the country battling for this kind of funding when elderly, vulnerable, severely ill patients clearly with complex medical needs are being turned down when families say they are eligible for the state funding. Carol says im in the process of applying for an independent review and have been told this is my last chance to present evidence of need. Ofa chance to present evidence of need. Of a Clinical Commissioning Group decision to deny funding for my mother. Im struggling to complete the paperwork but im encouraged to realise im not on my own. I will keep going until my mother, a former schoolteacher, receives what she is entitled to. Shes been self funding for more than two years at a cost of four of £1000 a week, we didnt apply until they were certain of the required boxes could be ticked but we have still been refused continuing health care so far. Judy says my brother has just been turned down for continuing Health Care Funding even though hes a wheelchair user because he has a spinal cord injury a failed operation and now has a rare form of parkinsons. He has a catheter, bowel problems and he gets a payment of £158 every week but i am having to sell his bungalow to fund his ca re to sell his bungalow to fund his care as he wasnt bad enough to qualify under the present decision tools used for assessment. The assessment was carried out by a registered Mental Health nurse yet he has complex medical needs. Michael says we started the assessment process for my 87 year old mother in may 2017 and had been turned down at every stage. My had been turned down at every stage. My mother has since died during this time. We were forced to sell her property to pay for a private care home as most of the Council Homes in our area are closed. This was £6,000 every month, these sums are astonishing. Mum had a stroke, heart attack, vascular dementia, heart disease, couldnt walk, couldnt go to the toilet on her own, couldnt eat or drink properly, understand where she was, high and low Blood Pressure etc stop the assessors deliberately manipulate the assessment domains using their own professional knowledge to minimise the chances of success by applicants. They deviate from the framework provided by government by introducing information not contained therein and use this against you to avoid funding. Ian says i have a mother in law who suffered from alzheimers. Brackets, two minute retention. Totally disabled, doubly incontinent, curvature of the spine, etc. And we have been battling, despite many appeals she has still been declined, they say shes not complex and not predictable in her illnesses. And so it goes on. I am going to pass that, sorry about that, ian, i will finish it later, mark harper, who wants to be your next Prime Minister is on his feet. What i will do if i am elected leader of the conservative party and the next Prime Minister, i am very happy to have you ask me anything you want, i will try and give you an answer, ive had a look at some of the things that my ask me anything pitch has led to on twitter and there is questions that are beyond my realm of confidence, i thinkjay rayner beyond my realm of confidence, i think jay rayner wants beyond my realm of confidence, i thinkjay rayner wants me to give mike on my views on egg based sources, and i think anyone who knows me in the kitchen we are in challenging times. This is going to bea in challenging times. This is going to be a very difficult next few months or whoever is elected as Prime Minister. Weve got to get brexit delivered, weve got to get the country governed properly for the country governed properly for the next three years. And weve got to fight and win the next general election, i think i have a plan to do all three of those and also to set out what the conservative party is about which is about freedom and its about opportunity, and opportunity matters to somebody like me. I come from a working class family, my parents, my dad was a labourerfor family, my parents, my dad was a labourer for the electricity company, my mum was a correspondence clerk and in the first person in my family to to university. I want that opportunity to do as much as you can do to be open to everyone and i have to say, for my parents, the fact that im standing here nominated as a candidate to be the leader of my party and have a shout at being Prime Ministers something, i think its fair to say, when they brought me home from the hospital 49 years ago public wasnt on the list of things they thought i was going to do. Thats not what people from my family kind of have on the to do list. So let me kick off with might brexit plan because actually, we have to start there because if we dont get brexit delivered, however much we want to talk about other things, we are not going to get the opportunity so my plan is realistic and it is credible and i think, having listened to the other candidates, its the only one that is. Iam prepared candidates, its the only one that is. I am prepared to leave if im given the choice between not leaving at all and leaving without a deal, i am prepared and comfortable with leaving without a deal because the british people gave us an instruction and that has to be delivered and it is not acceptable to not deliver it. My preference is to not deliver it. My preference is to leave with a deal because i think thats better for the country, to leave with a deal because i think thats betterfor the country, i think its better for the integrity of the United Kingdom and i think its better for our politics. Of the United Kingdom and i think its betterfor our politics. And the reason why i think i am the right person to do that is because frankly, everyone else in this race, has at some point over the last three years, been sat around the cabinet table and has participated in the decisions that have led to not leaving the European Union three yea rs not leaving the European Union three years after the referendum, every single one of them has participated in the fundamental misjudgement that has got us to where we are and i think we need a fresh approach and i think we need a fresh approach and i think its going to mean these three things its going to mean the Prime Minister sitting down with the cabinet and the conservative Parliamentary Party and doing effectively what my colleague Kit Malthouse did, getting us to a position we can agree on so when you go into the European Council chamber you know exactly where you can afford to give, where you have to hold the line and what you can get through parliament when you get back, its a very narrow landing zone. Its going to have to be delivered on our benches with our dup allies. Probably no more than a handful, two handfuls of labour party mps, thats as good as it gets. We are not going to carry this with a majority of 50 or 100, it will be ten or 15, that magnitude. To get permission to sit around the table with European Union partners is going to mean getting some credibility with the Irish Government so the priority is sitting down with the taoiseach and the leader of the Opposition Party in ireland and getting them to understand that we mean what we say when we signed up to the belfast agreement, we mean to deliver a border in Northern Ireland that is infrastructure free so that the people of the north and the republic can people of the north and the republic ca n cross people of the north and the republic can cross the border freely as they do today and as i saw for myself last year. Its only if they buy that and they believe we are straight and credible on that that they will be prepared to sit around a table with our eu partners and discuss these issues. I think weve got to put a real effort into getting stormont back up and running because i think that will provide a structure to build confidence with both communities in Northern Ireland and all of the Political Parties and that will be an essential component of getting that credibility. If that gets us round the table ma corporate launching his campaign to be the next conservative party leader and your next Prime Minister, he wants a new brexit deal, he says however, no deal must not be ruled out, should we be faced with a choice between no deal and no brexit. I just want to finish ians e mail because i interrupted it so we could hear the beginning of the launch there, ians mother in law has alzheimers, disable, doubly incontinent, curvature of the spine etc, we were told because she recognised a cup of tea but she has cognitive ability despite a formal diagnosis of alzheimers. We were told she not totally disabled because she has movement in her arms, my mother in law is unable to make any decisions nor could she let her needs be known, despite many appeals she has still been declined continuing health care, they say shes not complex and not predictable illnesses, she has what they say are explosive barrels which cannot be predicated and ignored. Thank you for those. Keep them coming in. Did your child start school with speech difficulties . Almost one in five children start their school lives without having reached the expected level of communication, and many go on to have communication problems throughout their childhood. New research by the childrens commissioner, estimates over half of areas in england saw a real terms decrease in spending on speech and Language Therapy over the last three years. The report has also found that the level of Speech Therapy support in england depends on where you live. The top spending areas in england spent at least £16. 35 per child, with the bottom spending only 58p, or less, per child. Earlier i spoke to Lynette Webster and her 4 year old son patrick and Theresa Mayman and her 6 year old son jacob. Also sally leese, who is the head of a state Nursery School in birmingham, and jan baerselman, a speech and language therapist. Both sally and jan work in areas with among the lowest local authority spend per child on speech and language training. I started by asking lynette when she first realised something wasnt quite right with patricks speech and language. Well, patrick was premature, actually, and so we were tied up with him being premature and his lack of growing up the time. At two and a half, we realised that he wasnt going to talk. Our daughter was a late talker so we just thought he was going to be late, and then we realised it really wasnt happening. Did you worry . We were worried at that point, we thought wed better check this out. There is a long waiting list on the nhs, there was a long wait to see somebody, so we actually had to go private. And Nicola Lathey saw him and within 18 months. Is that a consultant . She is a speech and language therapist, but a private speech and language therapist. And she decided that, actually, it was probably verbal dyspraxia, but the only people who can diagnose it are the nuffield in london. Right. And what does that mean, verbal dyspraxia, for people who want to learn more . Verbal dyspraxia, its the pathways from the brain to the mouth dont connect, and its very difficult for them to speak and say the words. And its the connections from the brain to the mouth. Right. Theresa. And jacob. Hello, jacob, how are you . All right. Thank you for coming on our programme. When did you realise things werent as they should be in terms of and Language Development with jacob . Withjacob, i think i started picking up more when he was about three years old. Because he did babble and he did get his point across, but i used to run a childrens playgroup and it was when i noticed that he wasnt communicating like the other children of a similar age, he wasnt interacting with them the same, thats the point then when i thought, actually, somethings not right. Were you able to get help straightaway . I had to see a paediatrician, and we were just told the same, hes going to be a late talker, boys are predominantly slower than girls. What age was he, sorry . Three. Right. He was three then. And we did put a request through, through his nursery as well, that he see a speech and language therapist. Was it easy to get access to that . No. We were waiting several months before he had an initial assessment nhs therapist. Let me bring injan, then. She is a speech and language therapist. Now, this report today from the childrens commissioner for england says that in the top 25 of areas, almost £300 a year is spent on children with these needs, but in the lowest quarter, that drops to 30 quid or less. What you think of that . I think its not enough. The figures are just reflecting what we see everyday. Why such disparity, you think . Some areas have worked together, some of the Senior Leaders in different areas have worked together to pool their budgets and create relatively good provision for children with difficulties talking, and others havent yet. And you can really feel the difference in some areas. Why is it important . Children who cant talk are at risk of later difficulties in life. Difficulties with learning, literacy, relationships and Mental Health problems. So we absolutely need children to be able to talk by the age of five to reduce the risk of them having these difficulties later. Sally, you run a state nursery in a deprived part of birmingham. When children get to your nursery, they are two ish, how often can two year olds who begin with you speak . Around 16 to 18 of our cohort are on track and communication skills when they start. So most arent . Most arent. Even if they start with us at three, they are still not talking. They cant communicate, they cant express themselves. Thats very frustrating for them. It means they cant interact or learn other things that they need to learn ready for school. Its obviously different, potentially, with some of them, from dyspraxia which we are talking about with jacob and patrick, but what are some of the reasons why the children who start at your nursery cant communicate . Yes, we do have a mixture, so we do have children with special Educational Needs, which mean they will struggle with communication, and we understand that. But there are children where its just a case that theyve had dummies for a bit too long, they arent communicated with, they havent interacted with other children as much as they possibly could, and unfortunately have sat in front of the tv or a screen more than communicating with other adults or other children. What do you think of that . I think its a real shame, because i know these parents love their children, they dont want that for them, but there seems to be a lack of expectation or understanding of what a child should be able to do by a certain age, and therefore a lack of concern when it doesnt happen. Yeah. The Health Visitor checks do sometimes highlight these issues, and they come to us saying we are concerned about their speech and language, but are still unwilling to attend groups or possibly get rid of that dummy or bottle. Now, you work in an area with among the lowest local authority spend per child on speech and language training. Yes. What do you say about that . I think its appalling. We refer a child in at two, and before they started school they still havent seen a National Health speech and language therapist. We have to buy in our own, which we cant afford. It means we can only provide minimal speech and Language Therapy service, and that is taken up by the children with special Educational Needs who need it more than most. Where its a delay due to other external factors, we just have to train the staff up and try to narrow that gap as best we can. Back to our top story. Thousands of vulnerable patients are missing out on nhs funding for home care that they are legally entitled to, because of the complexities of navigating the so called continuing care system. This is what happened to the family of vicky keiller, who was 92 when she died last year. She suffered from dementia and other conditions but was turned down for continuing healthcare funding on three occasions, despite being eligible. Her local nhs eventually refunded her nearly £200,000. Ive been speaking to both her son and husband. I was living with her for 71 years and we were great friends. But it was about 13 years ago now that she started becoming peculiar, doing things out of character, yes. This gradually got worse. So much so that my son and daughter in law suggested that we come down from cumbria where we lived to cambridge, so they could literally keep an eye on us. Your mum had complex and multiple medical needs, i think, didnt she . Yes, very much so. How would you explain it in her later years . She had whats called mixed dementia, she had small vessel disease. She was severely osteoporotic. She suffered multiple spontaneous fractures and thats why she ended up in hospital ultimately. She was found to have chronic kidney failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, she became doubly incontinent. And to be honest, when she was taken to the care home, she was essentially immobile from the waist down. She couldnt turn herself over in bed so she was on a mattress that inflated and deflated to avoid bedsores. She had to be turned with two nurses using a sliding sheet. And if she was taken out of bed, it was two people with a hoist. She very often didnt know us. She hallucinated, she was hallucinating at one point almost continually, screaming and shouting, which caused her distress. And us, in fact. And having described all that, why do you think, then, your wife was turned down for continuing funding on three occasions . Its quite beyond my comprehension really, because, i mean, as far as i was concerned, as far as my son was concerned, she satisfied the criteria which was laid down by the national Health Service. But they had about eight headings in which one was graded from serious to ok. Well, she was obviously quite serious as far as dementia was concerned and also her mobility. And that meant that you had to spend your own money for a period of time to cover your wifes care. Thats right, yes. Which was how much a month . Its about 3,400. Which you took from your savings. Yes. But youre absolutely adamant that this money should have come from the nhs. 0h, absolutely, clearly. They did whats called a Decision Support tool assessment when my mother was in hospital. That was done by a consultant of geriatric medicine and the ward sister who was in charge of the day to day care of my mother. And they found she was severe in two areas, cognition and mobility. And that would be enough to trigger the funding. That is an automatic recommendation for continuing health care. The local Clinical Commissioning Group said they would reserve their judgement until another assessment was done in three months time when the plaster cast came off. Because shed fractured her leg . Yes. Well, we had this, and it was done by essentially a medically unqualified team. There was a nurse there who hadnt had the up to date training. There was a social worker there who i subsequently found out was not in fact a qualified social worker. And they changed the assessment rating of my mother. They removed one of the severes, which in retrospect still means youre eligible but they said she wasnt. So the Clinical Commissioning Group still refused to pay you the money. Exactly. What did you think of that . Well, disappointed, frustrated. I mean, my son had put in a tremendous amount of work. It was only because of his determination to go through these continual assessments and eventually winning. But youre fighting constantly. Absolutely. As a son your mum is severely ill, as a husband, your wife is severely ill and youre fighting these organisations, even when youve got an independent panel saying your wife deserves this money. Thats right, and we didnt get it. This is a statement from nhs clinical commissioners. Thats the umbrella body for the Clinical Commissioning Groups. Continuing health care is a complex process but the Clinical Commissioning Groups are working hard to improve systems and processes to make it better and fairer for those that need it. Well, they always say that in theory but in actual practice they didnt carry it out. What do you say . Well, its a complete fiction. Theres been a recent report by the house of commons public audit committee, dated 2019, and they pointed to the fact that there was huge variation between who gets continuing Health Care Funding in different regions. It varies from 28 to 356 per 50,000. Im very grateful to both of you for coming down and talking to us and we will see what changes, if anything. Thank you both. Just before the end of the programme lets have a word with derek. Tell us about the condition of your wife and whether youve been successful. My wife had a stroke january the 1st 2018. Since then shes been doubly incontinent, she is paralysed, she cant move, she is paralysed, she cant move, she can date, she is fed through a peg into her stomach. And we went through the ccg initially with full expectation she will be funded but that was declined. It was declined because her needs were not complex enough, even though like her last collar, she was regarded as having some of the criteria, she was severe and many of the criteria she was high in her needs. But they declined and asked me to go, if i wanted to, i could go to appeal which we did and that appeal was held about two months ago. And whilst the ccg were very understanding and agreed some of the assessments had actually marked my wife down as low in some criteria when they should have been higher, she agreed with all of this, it was still declined. So now we are faced with going to an appeal to a panel. How stressful is it . Very stressful, its costing five and a half thousand pounds every month in a nursing home. My wifes funds will run out shortly and then well have to look for other funding through social services. But because my wife bought a house for my daughter in bradford that house will have to be sold. So, thats how stressful it gets. Thank you, derek, and i wish you all the best with your continuing fight. Thank you for coming on the programme. Thank you. Christine says my dad died in 2016 aged 90, me and my sisterfought long and hard for continuing health ca re long and hard for continuing health care and we were eventually successful, it is possible to win but you have to be strong. The nurses and people involved in the commissioning groups are not compassionate, some really are, that isa compassionate, some really are, that is a generalisation, your own experience did not prove that. They dont see us as human beings, they see us as a number dont see us as human beings, they see us as a number drawing on nhs funds. I suspect we will come back to this issue tomorrow. Do stay tuned. Also on the programme tomorrow she wants to be your next Prime Minister. Andrea leadsom live at10am. Prime minister. Andrea leadsom live at 10am. Send us your questions if you have one. Message me on twitter. Have a good day. Good morning. Weve seen some problems with flooding over the last 24 hours, a huge amount of rainfall and it continues this morning. This morning the focus is across lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and towards greater manchester, through wales in the south west of england. Further south and east its dryer, sunshine in the south east of england but as we go through the afternoon, fairly warm, the rain continuing from the east of england to the south west, showers as well. Further north for scotland and Northern Ireland, dry, quite a bit of cloud, some showers in the far north, maximum temperatures between 13 and 16 degrees but quite chilly if you are stuck beneath the cloud and rain and a rather brisk north east wind. You can see the rain pivoting further north through tonight, down to about 9 12d into wednesday morning, more rain in the forecast during wednesday, especially for northern parts of england, southern scotland, Northern Ireland, more rain and showers spreading to the south east as the day goes on. Goodbye. Youre watching bbc newsroom live. It is 11am and these are the main stories this morning. Andrea leadsom launches her bid to be the next conservative leader, saying brexit cant be put off any longer, and she will be able able to get things done. The next Prime Minister must have a clear plan to a managed exit by the end of october. They must have the negotiating ability to deliver it. The Charity Commission will publish its report into how oxfam handled allegations of Sexual Misconduct by some staff in haiti. Heavy downpours across england cause transport disruption, with some Southern Rail Services cancelled because of flooded tracks. Wages rose faster than expected in the three months to april. How electric cars are being used to power a small