NHS Continuing Healthcare
The NHS Continuing Healthcare checklist
NHS Continuing Healthcare (often shortened to CHC) is fully funded, ongoing care arranged and paid for by the NHS. It is not means-tested, and not the same as the council-arranged care most people are used to hearing about. The checklist is the first step toward it.
What the checklist is
It's a screening tool, not the funding decision itself. It's deliberately set at a low threshold, so that nobody who might be eligible gets missed. A positive result doesn't mean your parent will be found eligible for CHC. It means they move on to a full assessment where that gets decided properly.
Who completes it, and when
A trained health or social care professional completes it, normally whenever there's a possibility your parent might need NHS-funded ongoing care. It isn't always used. For example, if a rapid recovery is expected, or if a condition is deteriorating quickly enough that the separate Fast Track Pathway applies instead (a different route, used for rapidly deteriorating or end-of-life situations).
What happens after it's completed
If the result is negative, your parent doesn't move forward to a full assessment at this point. But if things are expected to get worse within 3 months, a reassessment should still be considered. If the result is positive, they're referred for a full eligibility assessment. Either way, the outcome should be given to you in writing, with the reasoning behind it, and your parent should keep receiving appropriate support while a full assessment is pending.
If you think this was never done
Ask directly: "has an NHS Continuing Healthcare checklist been completed for my parent, and can I see the outcome in writing?" This is a reasonable, specific question that puts the answer on record either way.
Sources
- NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist: guidance (GOV.UK) Official guidance on the checklist, its purpose and what should happen after it's completed.
- NHS Continuing Healthcare Fast Track Pathway Tool (GOV.UK) The separate, faster route used for rapidly deteriorating conditions.
More free guides
- Mental capacity, what it means and what it doesn’t
- Carer’s assessment, how to ask for one
- Reablement and intermediate care, explained
- Current capital limits for care costs
- Who to contact, helplines and escalation routes
The 8 questions, free
The questions worth asking before anyone leaves the ward, sent straight over. After that, only an email when something on these pages changes. Rates and thresholds move every April.
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These pages are the free resources for They’re Sending Her Home On Friday, a sourced guide to hospital discharge for families. It is on Amazon as an ebook or a paperback, alongside its companion workbook, The Discharge File.