Prepare for the NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment

A package of ongoing care arranged and funded solely by the NHS for an adult assessed as having a primary health need. It can be provided in any setting, including the person's own home or a care home. Where someone is eligible, the NHS funds all their assessed health and associated social care needs, including care home accommodation where that is part of the overall need.

No. Eligibility is not decided by the diagnosis. It depends on the actual day-to-day care needs taken as a whole: their nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability. A severe diagnosis does not automatically mean a severe level in a domain, which is why describing what actually happens matters.

A multidisciplinary team of at least two professionals looks at the evidence and records the person's needs in the Decision Support Tool, across 12 care domains. It records a level of need in each domain and recommends whether the person is eligible. The integrated care board (ICB) then makes the decision. The family should be given reasonable notice so they can attend, and their views should be taken into account and recorded.

Yes, that is who it is for. Before anything is written you confirm that they have agreed, or that you hold a registered lasting power of attorney or are a court-appointed deputy. A first name or "Mum" is enough: we never ask for an NHS number, an address or a date of birth.

No. CHCexpert is an independent service run by Benefits Expert and is not part of the NHS or any government body. The National Framework, GOV.UK and NHS.uk explain how the assessment works, but they cannot write down what you see happening in your relative's day and night. We turn your words into a statement for each of the 12 areas, shaped to how the Decision Support Tool describes needs, and you decide what to share with the team. It is guidance only, not legal or medical advice.

The Pre-MDT Family Pack (£99.99) is for families preparing for the assessment: a family statement for all 12 care areas, the four characteristics and how the needs interact, a family comment for the ICB, 12 to 20 questions to ask at the MDT meeting, an evidence list, a 7-day care diary and a plan for the day of the meeting. The Family Pack + Local Resolution Letter (£149.99) adds a point-by-point local resolution request letter to the ICB and guidance on how to ask NHS England for an independent review. If you have already been refused, everything is written at once around what the DST under-recorded. If the decision has not arrived yet, your order email has a personal letter link that writes the letter once, within 12 months.

Yes. We use it for one purpose only, to write the statement you asked for, and only after you confirm you may use it and give your consent. What you type is not stored on our servers once the statement has been written. It is shared only with the providers we need to write and deliver your pack, under their data processing terms, as set out in our privacy policy. We never sell it and we do not share it with the NHS, the ICB or the council: you decide what to share with the assessment team.

After payment you describe what happens in each area, and the pack then takes a few minutes to write, so please keep the page open. It comes as two PDFs, the papers to use at the meeting and a guide to prepare, and a copy is emailed to you. There are no accounts or logins, and what you type is not stored on our servers once the pack is written, so please keep that email. Your order link stays active for 36 hours after payment, and if you lose the email we can send it again.

You can ask the ICB to review its decision through its local resolution process, usually within 6 months of the decision letter (always check the time limit in your letter). After local resolution you can ask NHS England for an independent review. The Family Pack with the Local Resolution Letter writes the letter point by point and explains the next steps. Our time limits calculator works out the typical dates.

No, and nobody honestly can. The MDT recommends and the ICB decides. We help you describe the needs clearly and honestly in the terms the assessment uses, and the statement says plainly when your account fits a lower level.