Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people (a) applied for and (b) were granted continuing healthcare in 2017.

During 2017 there were 168,590 new referrals for a NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment, of which 104,272 were assessed as eligible, leading to an ‘indicative conversion rate’ of 62%.

This includes both ‘fast-track’ and ‘standard’ NHS Continuing Healthcare assessments. It should be noted that the conversion rate is ‘indicative’ in the sense that some of the people assessed as eligible will have been referred for their assessment during the previous year, or will receive their eligibility decision in the subsequent year. It should also be noted that some referrals will be for individuals who never receive an assessment, for example, if the individual has died.