Most people breathe a sigh of relief when their assessment of eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare is successful. Just getting someone to accept that your family member has a primary health need that qualifies for NHS care can be the fight of your life. The comfort of knowing they are finally getting the care they need when they are at their most frail and vulnerable is immense. But this is very...

The NHS Continuing Healthcare Decision Support Tool (DST), contrary to popular belief, is not in itself an assessment of care needs. The regulations and guidelines governing NHS Continuing Healthcare are clear. When deciding eligibility, a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) must first undertake a comprehensive assessment of needs. The MDT must then use that assessment to complete the Decision Support Tool for NHS Continuing Healthcare. This is designed to help them accurately document and summarise the total...

NHS Continuing Healthcare assessments should never happen behind closed doors. No matter the circumstances, people have the right to be present at their own assessments. And their representatives – family or professional – have the right to be in the room too. This may or may not include legal advisors. The NHS Continuing Healthcare system was never designed to be adversarial. But sadly, that is what it has become....

Why is the NHS Continuing Healthcare application process so difficult? That is the main concern families have when they get in touch with us. We get many calls from people thinking they must be doing something wrong. They believe that because NHS Continuing Healthcare is a government programme, with a National Framework of rules to follow, it should be relatively straightforward. Unfortunately for many people it is anything but. Instead, it brings...

The NHS Continuing Healthcare system is designed to provide free health and social care outside hospital for people with a primary health need. It is not means tested. However, it is getting harder and harder to get as NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) pull the purse strings tighter. While it shouldn’t depend on an individual’s finances, we know it often does. In a recent letter to the Guardian newspaper, Janet...

It is tempting to breathe a huge sigh of relief when your relative finally proves eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. But then, all too soon, comes the NHS Continuing Healthcare review. This is normally within three months of the initial decision, and then again every 12 months. According to the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare, the rationale is to ensure the care package is still appropriate to meet healthcare needs....

NHS Continuing Healthcare funding covers the full costs of care for people who have a ‘primary health need’. It covers both health and social care and applies whether people are in residential or nursing care or receiving care at home. However, applying for NHS Continuing Healthcare for care at home is fraught with problems. This is because providing a high level of care at home is often more...

Is someone you know at risk of losing their care home place due to NHS Continuing Healthcare  shortfalls? If so, you are not alone. Catastrophic failures in the administration of this vital NHS care funding can lead to a plethora of safeguarding concerns within care settings. Some of our most vulnerable citizens are actually at risk of losing the roof over their heads. NHS Continuing Healthcare shortfalls happen where local...

Has your vulnerable relative been forced to “top up” their NHS Continuing Healthcare funding with additional fees? If so, they may well be due a sizeable refund. An investigation by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled that many such payments are illegal under consumer protection law and should be repaid.  NHS CHC “top ups” are illegal The CMA forced one care home provider, Care UK, to pay back more than...