We take a look at the confusion surrounding CHC and how you can fight for FREE non-means tested funding for your loved one.
The team at Steene Law often receive calls from anxious families who have found that a loved one’s care and support needs have suddenly changed.
This could either be as a result of an accident, such as a fall, or it might be as a result of frailty and a general decline in health.
There is a general expectation that, after paying a lifetime of taxes and national insurance contributions, the state will care for us in our hour of need.
After all, when someone breaks their hip, they are looked after in hospital and the cost of care is funded by the NHS.
So it is understandable that people tend to assume free health care will be ‘continuous’ – and that once a person is discharged home or needs to go into residential care, the cost will also be covered by public funds.
Sadly, and in our view unfairly, this is not the case.
One of the most upsetting aspects of our job is having to explain to people that the concept of ‘continuous’ or 24/7 care does not exist.
‘Continuing Health Care’ (CHC) – to use the correct phrase – or NHS Funded Care, is certainly anything but ‘continuous’ as many elderly vulnerable people and their relatives are shocked to discover.
So why do so many elderly, infirm people with care needs end up having to pay for their own care?
Here’s a quick history lesson to explain things:
In 1948, the National Health Service was created. It promised to deliver free healthcare at the point of need for everyone.
The problem, however, is that only a person’s medical care needs are free and not subject to means-testing.
Any social care – such as help with washing, dressing etc. – is not automatically free. Social care is means-tested and if a person has more than £23,250 of savings they will be classed as a self-funder and, as such, must pay for their own care needs.
Clear so far? Well, to confuse matters further, if you can prove that a person has a ‘primary health need’, then you might be able to secure ‘Continuing Health Care’ funding – which pays the entire cost of both medical and social care, without means testing.
No wonder, therefore, that so many people desperately battle to secure CHC funding on behalf of their loved ones. And in this day and age, they naturally turn to Google to try to find out what they need to know.
A word of caution though. There is a huge and bewildering amount of information online about CHC. Most of it, in our view, is inadequate and some of it, especially on social media forums, is downright wrong.
That’s why the team at Steene Law offer a free fact-finding telephone conversation, where you can describe your loved one’s precise circumstances and we can advise whether, in our experience, the eligibility criteria for NHS funded CHC is likely to be achieved.
Make no mistake, CHC funding is a postcode lottery and it is getting tougher because the local Clinical Commissioning Groups who hold the purse strings, appear to think it’s acceptable to move the goalposts.
If you have a relative who has both health and social care needs, 0203 653 0623“>call us now.
If they are in hospital and discussions are taking place to either send them home or place them in residential care, it’s vital to find out now whether they could be eligible for free CHC funding.
Don’t be fobbed off by suggestions that the CHC assessment can take place after discharge. In our experience this leads to long delays in your loved one being assessed.
Equally, if your relative is in their last few weeks or days of life, it’s important to know that CHC funding can be fast-tracked and we can help you apply and fight for this.
Pick up the phone and call us on 0203 653 0623 for a free, initial telephone conversation. We are available from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.
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