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NHS Continuing Healthcare is not one single application problem. A family who has never been offered a Checklist is in a different position from someone whose full Decision Support Tool has just been refused, and both are different again from a family challenging the withdrawal of existing funding. The strongest next step depends on where the NHS process has reached and what the contemporaneous care records actually show.
If you are at the beginning, start with who qualifies for NHS Continuing Healthcare and our guide to the CHC Checklist. If a full assessment has taken place, understanding the Decision Support Tool and the 12 care domains is usually more useful than focusing on diagnosis alone. The assessment should look at the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of the person's needs and at how those needs interact.
If funding has been refused, read our CHC appeal guide and the explanation of an Independent Review Panel. If the person had been funded and the NHS later stopped or reduced the package, see what to check when CHC funding is withdrawn. Families who have already paid substantial care fees can also read about retrospective care home fee claims and claims pursued by an estate after death.
Our articles are written to help families understand the evidence and procedure before deciding whether they need legal help. They are general information rather than advice on a particular case. Where we review a matter, the starting point is usually the decision letter, Checklist or DST, together with the care records and the family's account of what day-to-day care actually involves.