We explain how the Coronavirus Act has changed the rules and what you can do if your relative is denied care.
Now that key parts of the Care Act 2014 have been suspended and the Coronavirus Act has been passed, the law relating to Continuing Health Care (CHC) has radically changed.
This week, the team at Steene Law have received many calls from worried relatives who are not sure what the emergency powers will mean for them and their loved ones:
Here are just a few of the most frequently received enquiries:
Collapse All
Answer: Yes
Answer: Yes. Both Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS England reviews are affected.
Answer: Yes
Answer: The effects are so far reaching that it’s difficult to know where to start, but here’s an overview of the main issues you might encounter:
During the period of time that the COVID-19 emergency period is in force, all time frames for carrying out CHC Checklists, Decision Support Tool Meetings (DST) and CHC reviews are all suspended.
That is to say, there is no right to expect your relative will have a Checklist carried out in hospital or after being discharged.
If you were unhappy with the outcome of an existing application and have already appealed, you won’t be hearing back from the CCG any time soon, as all appeals have been suspended during the period of this emergency.
The new Act will cause CHC funding – which is already a postcode lottery – to become even more unfair.
Some people could be granted CHC. However, when the emergency period finishes, an assessment will be carried out and the package of care that has been funded by the NHS may then be withdrawn.
Alternatively, people may find they are declined CHC. This means that even if they would, in normal circumstances, have been eligible for CHC, there are currently no grounds for appeal. They will therefore have no choice but to fund their own care for the time being.
Whilst it is possible to ask for Checklists, and request reviews of eligibility decisions, under the new emergency powers, CCGs are under no obligation to give any times scales.
Answer: For people who already receive CHC, three and twelve-month reviews usually take place. The new guidance says that “there is an expectation that CCG’s will take a proportionate view in undertaking three and twelve-month reviews…”.
What does this mean? That’s a very good question! Nobody, especially the CCGs, have any idea what that actually means.
However, if anyone telephones us and asks us how we interpret it, we would argue that during the crisis period it would be unfair and possibly unlawful for NHS funded care to be removed.
Answer: What has not changed is the right to Fast Track CHC. When a person is in a so-called terminal phase of their life, they are entitled, within 48 hours of an application being made, to have put in place any care that is needed.
This is always a very difficult and sensitive time. But, you need to know that if you have a family member in this situation then they are entitled to Fast Track non-means tests CHC, irrespective of what anyone else tells you.
Answer: Worryingly, CCGs have been told they will not be held to account for failing to comply with the usual “assurance standards” or time frames or requests for reviews during this emergency period.
CCGs have therefore been given a licence, for the time being, to do what they wish.
That said, there is an obligation to comply with the Human Rights Act and we would urge anyone who finds that they have either been denied CHC or finds their CHC has been withdrawn to contact us immediately.
CCGs may need to be ‘reminded’ that the Government has made billions of pounds available to fund CHC during this period so that people can be cared for, with the paperwork to follow once the crisis is over.
This is important. If a person is eligible for CHC, it is not acceptable to give a package of care that does not meet an individual’s needs.
How can Steene Law help?
If you find that your CHC package is not meeting your relative’s needs and you are being ignored, call Steene Law today.
We have the legal knowledge to help you during these unprecedented times. If you are hitting a brick wall with the CCG and they are denying your loved one CHC, call us now.