Carers across the region are promised extra cash

The payments are intended for those who provide long-term care in their homes.

Last year the Health Ombudsman reported that NHS Continuing Care cash had been withheld from too many people.

Some carers have now spoken out about their frustration and believe they have wrongfully been denied access to NHS funding worth up to �1,000 a week.

The government has promised to change the system and investigate cases where a carer has been wrongly denied Continuing Care money.

But carer Barbara Pointon, 64, from Thriplow, Cambridgeshire, who is to appear in a Panorama programme on Sunday, said many believed the system was failing them.

I am amazed that someone with a serious health condition should be subjected to this ordeal Barbara Pointon

"Many people who are caring for relatives at home do not know the care allowance exists," she said.

"It has taken me four years to get financial help and there are no guarantees with it.

"My 64-year-old husband, Malcolm, has suffered from Alzheimer's since 1991 and had to be reassessed for the new allowance.

"I am amazed someone with a serious health condition should be subjected to this ordeal again and again."

Peter Davies, of the Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority, said 600 carers had applied for money after a publicity campaign highlighting the payments.

"There are about 300 cases still outstanding and these are in the hands of the primary care trusts (PCTs)," he said.

Professional assessment

A �20m fund has been set aside to cover claims in the strategic health authority's area.

"In the case of reviews, we are dealing with public money and have an obligation to monitor how it is spent," Mr Davies explained.

"People's conditions also change and they may become entitled to more money. The reassessments are always done by professional clinicians."

The 300 claimants are being assessed and in the case of the primary care trust in South Cambridgeshire, which is responsible for Mrs Pointon's claim, most of the work has been completed.

It said it had received 117 requests from across Huntingdonshire, Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire and East and Fenland PCTs.

Background work is completed on all but two and forwarded to independent panels and some payments had been made.