A son today won his five-year battle to get the NHS to refund the cost of nursing care for his mother after her family was forced to sell her £200,000 home.

Richard Roe, of Telford, said his late mother’s treatment by the NHS was “scandalous”.

Mrs Judith Roe, of Worcester, who died in October last year, aged 74, from a combination of pneumonia and physical and mental deterioration through Alzheimer’s disease, had to stay in nursing homes because of her illness.

But NHS Worcestershire refused to fund her care, saying her condition was not health-related and the family had to sell her home of 30 years to pay the £600-a-week nursing home fees.

Mr Roe, of Oakengates, a regional manager for Homebase, launched a claim that the fees should have been paid for by the NHS trust.

The 40-year-old wrote dozens of letters during his battle with the trust over the payment of his mother’s care.

But the Health Service Ombudsman has now ordered NHS Worcestershire to reimburse the fees of more than £100,000 after an appeal.

The father-of-one said today he was angry and frustrated with what the family had had to go through.

He added: “It was so unnecessary, if they had done their jobs properly in the first place then none of this should have happened.”

Mr Roe has launched a further claim against the NHS Trust to “restore his mother to the financial position” she would have been in if she had not had to pay for her own nursing care.

He said: “All the time we were told we were wrong while believing we were right. We became very angry because the primary care trust was very arrogant and unhelpful.

“I want anyone else going through a similar experience to know they may be entitled to care.”

In a statement, Paul Bates, chief executive of NHS Worcestershire, said: “The line between the need for healthcare and social care is a very thin one indeed, but the impact for the individual is the difference between free care and care which is means-tested.

“We would not wish to see Mr Roe’s experience repeated and there are clearly lessons for us to learn.”

By Lisa Rowley