Secure NHS Continuing Healthcare funding for a relative

This guide is for families in England whose relative has complex, ongoing care needs – often after a hospital stay, a stroke, advancing dementia or a serious illness – and who face large care bills. NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of care arranged and fully funded by the NHS when someone's main need is a health need, and it is not means-tested. Many families never ask for an assessment or go into it unprepared. By the end you will have requested the right screening, built a clear evidence file, know how to take part in the assessment meeting and have letters ready if you need to appeal.

What is inside

• Full step-by-step method8 detailed steps with decision points
• Ready-to-use templatesLetter or email asking for a CHC Checklist · Daily care diary for the assessment · Letter asking for local resolution of a CHC decision
• Timed action plan8 stages from “Day 1” to “3 months after eligibility, then yearly”
• Costly mistakes to avoid4 traps and what to do instead
• Complete checklist11 items to tick off
• Insider tips and fixes4 tips and 4 common problems solved

Step by step

1. Check whether to ask for CHC now

   CHC eligibility depends on the type and level of someone's care needs, not on a particular diagnosis, so never assume a condition rules your relative in or out. Ask for screening if your relative needs help day and night, has behaviour that is hard to manage, needs frequent skilled monitoring, has unstable symptoms, or is about to move into a nursing home or receive a large care-at-home package. If their condition is deteriorating rapidly and they may be nearing the end of life, ask the doctor or nurse directly: "Is the Fast Track Pathway Tool appropriate?" – a clinician can use it to start funding quickly without the full process. If they are leaving hospital, staff may say screening will happen after discharge once needs are clearer; that is normal, but ask who will do it and by when, and write the answer down. This guide covers England; Wales has its own CHC framework, and Scotland and Northern Ireland use different arrangements, so check with the local health board or trust there. If your relative's health suddenly worsens at any point, call 999 or NHS 111 first – funding questions always come second.