ELDERLY people in Bournemouth and Poole are among the least likely in the south of England to receive NHS funding when they need continuous nursing, it has been claimed.

The Registered Nursing Home Association says the chances of local primary care trusts picking up the bill are eight times higher in Ports-mouth than they are in the two Dorset towns.

According to Department of Health figures, as at the end of March this year, 77 Bournemouth and Poole residents out of a population of 324,000 were receiving NHS continuing healthcare funding - a ratio of 2.38 patients for every 10,000 people.

In Portsmouth City, 357 patients out of a population of 184,000 were receiving NHS funding, a ratio of 19.43.

The worst three PCTs in the south were Bournemouth and Poole, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire.

Frank Ursell, chief executive officer of the Registered Nursing Home Association, said the figures underlined the postcode lottery that faced elderly people with significant long-term health needs.

"An older person with multiple health problems in one area may end up having all their nursing home costs met by the NHS," he said.

"In another area, a person with similar needs could end up having to pay most of the costs out of their own pocket.

"There has been little or no consistency in the way that PCTs have been applying the eligibility criteria for NHS continuing care. The consequences of these decisions for many families run into tens of thousands of pounds."

The Department of Health is introducing a new national system on October 1 that all PCTs will have to use when making decisions on NHS continuing care.