Families seeking care funding from the NHS face a "postcode lottery" as to whether they will be accepted.

Under “continuing healthcare” (CHC) rules, those with complicated medical conditions can apply for full funding from the health service. Families are not means tested and the decision is supposed to be made solely on the person’s medical situation.

But, despite the criteria being clearly set out in a national framework, differing interpretations of the rules mean your chances of being deemed eligible depend on where you live.

Telegraph Money is aware of hundreds of cases where regional health authorities have applied the rules differently – including some where patients have been approved by one authority and rejected by another just days later.

Ron Laycock, 87, was admitted to Cheltenham General Hospital earlier this year with a vascular condition. Despite living in Wiltshire, he was taken to a specialist unit in Cheltenham, in neighbouring Gloucestershire.

After he was deemed to be "rapidly deteriorating", medical staff at the hospital approved him for "fast-track" funding under CHC, meaning his care at a nursing home would be paid for.