20,000 people seek nursing fee refunds

MORE than 20,000 people have applied for refunds of nursing home fees which the Government illegally charged.

But the final number of applications is likely to be much higher - even though the Government has put limits on whom it will repay.

In all, more than 300,000 people were illegally charged for nursing home care between 1976 and 2004, when the problem finally came into the public domain.