Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an assessment has been carried out on the effectiveness of the fast-track route for Continuing Healthcare in providing support to terminally ill people; and what discussions he has had with NHS England on working with his Department to ensure people eligible for Continuing Healthcare through the fast-track route receive it promptly.

The principles and processes for assessment of Fast-Track eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare are set out in the ‘National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care’.

Whilst the Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the effectiveness of the Fast Track Tool for NHS Continuing Healthcare we have recently worked closely with NHS England and other key stakeholders in developing an Assurance Framework. The aim of the Assurance Framework is to ensure compliance with the National Framework and was launched in draft earlier this year. Further work is being undertaken to refine this prior to final publication.

The Department does not collect data regarding the number of people who have been assessed as eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) via use of the Fast Track tool.

Since 1 April 2013 data on the number of people who are eligible for NHS CHC has been published quarterly at:

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?q=continuing+healthcare&go=Go&area=both