Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at what point in the provision of a person’s social care needs is the limit of local authority responsibility reached and the responsibility for funding that care transferred to NHS Continuing Healthcare.

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of ongoing care that is arranged and funded solely by the National Health Service, where the individual has been found to have a primary health need.

An individual has a primary health need if the main aspects or majority part of the required care is focused on addressing or preventing health needs. The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012 set out the process for determining eligibility for CHC.

Establishing whether an individual has a primary health need requires a clear, reasoned decision, based on evidence of needs from a range of comprehensive assessments undertaken by a multidisciplinary team.