A full-scale review will follow in the autumn.The Royal College of Nursing claimed the decision to issue the interim guidance represented a shift from the Health Department’s earlier upbeat position as it recognised the implications of the judgment.There are 157,500 elderly people being cared for in nursing homes of whom 42,500 pay the costs of their nursing care.”We think the vast majority of those who pay should qualify for free care on the basis that their primary need is for health care. A government spokeswoman said yesterday’s interim guidance was intended simply to remind health authorities that they needed to check that their criteria were lawful. She had appealed against the decision of North and East Devon health authority to close the home where she had received round-the-clock nursing care and force her to pay for it privately.Ms Coughlan, 55, won her case after the Appeal Court ruled that the decision to close the home was unlawful and that North and East Devon had misinterpreted the criteria.However, in a blow to elderly people facing large nursing care bills in private homes, it upheld the distinction between people needing specialist nursing care, who came under the NHS, and those having general nursing care, who were the social services’ responsibility and who could be made to pay.Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, said at the time that he was “delighted” with the outcome of Ms Coughlan’s case, which could have cost the health service millions of pounds if the Appeal Court had not recognised the distinction between general and specialist nursing care. Any authority that has to revise its criteria must also reassess the patients in its care.
The move follows last month’s Appeal Court victory of Pamela Coughlan, who was left paralysed after a road accident in 1971. Every health authority has been told to check the criteria used for deciding who gets free nursing care and who has to pay to ensure they comply with a landmark court judgment last month.

THOUSANDS OF people who are paying for long-term care in private nursing homes may be given it free after the Government ordered a national review of the rules determining eligibility yesterday. The public also needs to feel confident that we are exercising them both effectively and fairly on their behalf.”Asked if the figures showed there was still a problem with institutionalised racism in the Met, Mr O’Connor said: “I think if a public institution is not working to win consent and understanding in using powers, especially intrusive powers like this, then that’s an accusation that can be made.”But I think the Metropolitan Police are actively working to see that the proper safeguards are being applied in the use of this power and that therefore, as an institution, is walking in the right direction.”Mr O’Connor said “apprehension over accusations of racism” was one of the factors responsible for the drop in stop and searches since the Law-rence inquiry report.Leading article, Review, page 3. The Metropolitan Police stressed that those planning searches were made fully aware of demographic trends and the need to avoid stereotyping. Partly as a result of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, stop and search operations had dropped despite an increase in street crimes.Assistant Commissioner Denis O’Connor said: “The Metropolitan Police believes these powers are an essential tool for community safety, but it is determined to renew the tactic in ways which meet current needs and expectations. The report showed that a police pilot scheme, which began last year, raised arrest rates from 11 per cent to 18 per cent over 12 months.

In four out of seven sites being tested in London, people from black and Asian backgrounds were more likely to be apprehended.
But Scotland Yard maintained that the new scheme has led to a fairer system. I expect a fall to 2 per cent would ring alarm bells at the Bank.”Bank split over inflation, Business, page 16. YOUNG PEOPLE from ethnic minority backgrounds still make up a disproportionate number of those stopped and searched on the streets, according to independent research published yesterday. That would put ministers on a collision course with the Bank of England.”We are OK with further falls in unemployment,” Jonathan Loynes of HSBC said “But there’s a limit and it can’t go on for ever.