Experts say thousands could benefit from the decision

She has ruled the NHS was wrong to deny care to a 63-year-old with the disease.

Malcolm Pointon, from Cambridgeshire, is severely disabled and is unable to look after himself.

His wife Barbara was told he would receive free care only if he was in a nursing home or hospital. "For four years, I've been fighting," she said.

The Alzheimer's Society said the ruling "has implications for thousands of people living at home and at residential care homes".

NHS assessment

Mr Pointon was assessed by NHS staff to see if he qualified for free care at home. They concluded that he did not.

"All the NHS nursing and continuing care assessments were skewed in favour of physical disabilities and acute care," Mrs Pointon said.

[The ruling] has implications for thousands of people living at home and at residential care homes Neil Hunt, Alzheimer's Society

"They failed to take into account Malcolm's severe psychological problems and the special skills it takes to nurse someone with dementia."

Mrs Pointon complained to local health bosses. They said they would provide free care to her husband but only if he was admitted to hospital or a home.

"Why should he take up a scarce bed when his care workers and I are willing to nurse him at home?"

The ombudsman upheld Mrs Pointon's complaint and her husband is now receiving 100% NHS funded care at home at �1,000 per week.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said the case was a common one.

"For too long people with dementia have been discriminated against," he said.

"You would expect people with dementia to receive health care on the NHS for free, as Alzheimer's is a physical disease of the brain for which there is currently no cure.

"Yet people with dementia have been forced to pay for care that should be available free on the NHS.

"'This ruling breaks new ground by requiring the psychological, and not just physical needs of people with dementia, to be taken into account and has implications for thousands of people living at home and at residential care homes."

Criteria

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the ruling did not change the current guidelines.

"Access to continuing NHS health care must be decided locally by primary care trusts on a case by case basis, and not on the basis of whether someone has one particular condition or another.

"Current guidance clearly states that a person's mental health needs are an issue that should be considered when establishing eligibility criteria for continuing care.

"Current guidance also states that NHS care may be provided in an NHS hospital, a nursing home, hospice or an individual's own home."

Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for older people Sandra Gidley said: "The government must think again about the implications of the ruling for their own guidance."