If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with a rapidly deteriorating medical condition, then the chances are that you need to sort out care – and fast. If you or that person is sadly in the terminal stage, then there is clearly no time to be wasted, and care must be put in place immediately. That is why the Fast Track Pathway tool is available; it is there to speed up the process of ensuring that you or someone you know is taken care of and can access NHS Continuing Healthcare funding as quickly as possible.
What is the Fast Track Pathway Tool?
The idea behind this is to speed up and simplify the process, rather than having to jump through hoops and hurdles to get the support you need immediately. What you don’t want is to be kept waiting for assessments to take place.
What usually happens is that you have to be approved for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding – this would cover all of your care needs – and you would need to meet the criteria in the initial Checklist tool and be recommended for a full assessment, which would then be followed up by a more detailed assessment by the Multi-Disciplinary Team using the Decision Support Tool.
However, if you have a rapidly deteriorating condition, you can progress through to getting essential NHS Continuing Healthcare funding in a much quicker way. Your local CCG can take on your case and ensure that you are cared for. The fast track pathway is designed specifically for those who are reaching the end of their life due to a rapidly deteriorating condition and entering a terminal phase. There simply isn’t time to go through the ‘standard,’ more detailed NHS Continuing Healthcare process in such cases.
What You Can Do
It is, however, not always that simple and easy. Sometimes you or someone you know can still be deemed ineligible. It’s hugely beneficial to be guided through the process at such a difficult time. Also, before reaching the end stages of life/fast-track process someone may have had a primary health need but they weren’t granted NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. Fast-track assessments often take priority, but if someone also had a primary health need before entering the terminal phase, then they could have also been eligible for funding during the earlier period. If that is the case you could also be entitled to a refund of wrongly paid care fees.
To ensure you don’t miss out on the funding you are entitled to, call us now on 0191 556 1078 or email us at [email protected].